


Out of the Rabbit Hole

by Whilhelmina_Prince



Series: The Rabbit Hole [2]
Category: Rhett & Link
Genre: Emotional Infidelity, F/M, Heartbreak, Infidelity, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-16
Updated: 2016-12-15
Packaged: 2018-08-22 21:02:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 30,130
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8300906
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Whilhelmina_Prince/pseuds/Whilhelmina_Prince
Summary: After Rhett's breakdown, Link is left to deal with the aftermath.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This work is a sequel to Down the Rabbit Hole. Please read it first if you've stumbled here!

Link dropped Jessie off at home, but didn’t immediately drive to his own house. He sat in the driveway for a long time, motionless. Waking up that morning in the tent with Rhett’s arm heavily draped over him might as well have been a million years ago. 

And a million thoughts were now racing through his mind, but he couldn’t allow them to penetrate his being. There was so much to do now. He had to get to the studio. He had to figure out what to tell the crew, and worst of all, what to tell the audience. Who knew how long Rhett would be out of commission? 

This could be the end. 

A tear traced its way down Link’s face. This had been their dream. And so much hung in the balance. They were in their 10th season of their show, their scripted series was coming out in the next few months, and they were coming up on 1000 episodes. It was the worst possible time for this … whatever it was. 

In his mind, Link was looking up at a younger, clean shaven Rhett, as they cut their palms so many years ago. He had made a promise to that boy, and that promise was so close to fulfillment he could taste it. He could taste the blood of that promise, and it was metallic and sweet.

Link raised a hand to his mouth and realized he’d grimaced so hard that he had bit his lip. 

He let out a sad chuckle and wiped his fingers on his jeans. 

“I’m not going to let you down, Rhett,” he said, putting the car in gear. “You are going to come through this.”

He drove to the studio and found it deserted. He was grateful for that. Telling the crew in person could wait. But tonight, he needed to record something on his own.

He set up the camera and hit record before sitting down in his usual place at the desk. The empty space beside him was enormous and cold. But he took a deep breath and began.

“Mythical beasts. I’m here tonight, by myself, to …” Link took a deep breath, unsure how to begin. He could already hear the quiver in his voice. He needed to do this quickly. “The truth is, this afternoon, I had to take Rhett to the hospital. He’s okay, and he’s in good hands, but he needs some time to rest and recover, so he’ll be taking some time off. We have a few episodes already filmed; I’ll be honest, I forget how many. But we’ll be airing those on schedule, and then if we have to, we’ll take a break until Rhett is back on his feet. I’ll try and keep you updated as to when that will be. In the meantime, I just ask that you respect Rhett’s privacy and keep him in your thoughts and prayers. And as always, keep being your mythical best.”

Link sniffed as he stood up to turn off the camera. He hoped he had been able to hold back all of the emotions stirring within him, but he didn’t want to rewatch it to find out. Not even to edit it, which he would normally be meticulous in doing. So he quickly got the video ready and uploaded it to their various social media accounts and sent a brief email to the crew so they wouldn’t be blindsided by the video. 

As soon as it was done, he shut his phone off, not wanting to be bombarded with questions. He wouldn’t be able to answer them, so seeing them would just make him anxious. As it was, he was already sure he wouldn’t be able to sleep that night.

When he arrived home, at an hour far past when he would normally be in bed, he found his wife, Christy, waiting at the kitchen table in her pajamas. Her eyes were red and bleary.

Link had texted her from the hospital hours ago, with only the briefest of explanations. He had been dreading talking to Christy. For some reason, telling Jessie had been easy. 

Though perhaps easy was the wrong word. He could get the words out, and while it obviously hurt her deeply, she felt only worry for her husband’s mental state, not betrayal.

Then again, he hadn’t told her about the kiss.

And that is what he would have to tell Christy. Eventually.

But not tonight, not while she wrapped her arms around him and held him tight, telling him that everything would be okay and that Rhett would get better. Not tonight, not while she took him to bed and curled herself around him while he sobbed and heaved. Not tonight, not while she stroked his hair in her lap after he’d thrown up from crying so hard.

He eventually fell into a fitful sleep, but was haunted all the long hours of the night by the fact that he hadn’t immediately pushed Rhett away.


	2. Chapter 2

“Are you sure you’ve got things under control?” Link said in the phone. He’d been talking to Stevie for well over an hour, making sure she could handle things. It was killing Link to give over so much control, even if only for a few days, but there were two things he knew were true. The first was that if he set foot in the office, Stevie was going to physically push him back out. The second was that being in that office, in their room, without his partner, would be devastating, and he wouldn’t accomplish a damn thing.

Stevie was calm, and promised to take care of everything, to keep the crew working, and to oversee all of the social media personally. The last thing Link wanted was for the internet to go wild with rumors. He knew it would, but he had to say something. Hopefully, Stevie could keep things as hushed as possible. At least she didn’t know the full truth, and couldn’t accidently give too much away.

“Go take care of him.” Stevie’s voice was stern and final. Link hung up and ran a hand through his unkempt hair. 

But Link didn’t know how to take care of Rhett. He still didn’t understand what was happening. The doctor said it was delusions, but … Link knew Rhett. Better than anyone. And delusion just didn’t fit. This had to be something else.

The entire drive home from the mountains, Link had wondered if he was making the right decision. It seemed right at the time. Rhett was experiencing something he couldn’t explain. He needed help. But when he had said those words to Rhett, Link saw the heartbreak in his eyes. Link had cut him to the core, and something inside of Rhett had shattered. All Link could see was the depth of the sorrow in those gray-green eyes.

And that was his fault. Now Rhett was broken. How could Link help him? 

But he had to do something. Rhett wasn’t just a best friend. That was the word they used, because it was the only word the English language had, the only word that was acceptable. But they both knew that what they had was something different, something deeper. 

Something sacred.

Throwing his morning routine to the wind, Link quickly showered and headed out the door without bothering with coffee or breakfast. He needed to be by Rhett’s side, even if he didn’t know what he could do to help.

When he parked the car, Link could barely remember the drive. His mind had been everywhere but on the road. “Lucky you didn’t get yourself killed, stupid,” he grumbled to himself as he got out of the car and headed into the hospital.

Rhett had been admitted to a closed floor. Link was buzzed into the first set of doors.

“Can I help you?” said a receptionist through a hole in a glass window. Her manner was robotic and stiff. 

“I’m here to see Rhett McLaughlin. He was admitted yesterday.”

“Are you family?”

Yes, of course, his mind insisted. “Not exactly.”

“One moment.”

She turned away and picked up a phone. Link couldn’t hear what she said, but he had the distinct sense that it wasn’t good. His heart began to race. Had something happened over night? Why hadn’t Jessie called him?

He swallowed hard, trying to maintain some sense of composure, but his hands were shaking hard inside his jacket pockets.

Within a minute, Jessie appeared through the second set of doors, looking just as disheveled as he felt. Link immediately wrapped his arms around her, his heart still pounding. “Is everything okay?” he asked as she wormed out of his embrace.

Jessie nodded, but her eyes were worn. There were lines around her eyes Link had never seen before, as though she had aged ten years overnight. Surely, she hadn’t slept a wink.

“Rhett is fine, Link. I mean, as fine as he was yesterday, I guess. But …”

Her voice, flat and detached, was nothing like her normal, upbeat personality. It pained Link to see her so deflated.

“But what, Jessie?”

She inhaled deeply and brought her folded hands to her chin. Staring at her fingers, she spoke.

“You can’t see him.”

Tears immediately formed in Link’s eyes as the words touched his ears. “What do you mean?”

“It’s not … it’s not good for him to see you right now.”

“But why?”

Jessie’s arms fell to her sides and she turned her back to him. “You know why, Link.”

Link reached out and laid a gentle hand on her shoulder, but she wrenched her body away from him.

“Jessie, I don’t understand.” His voice wobbled along with his legs. He could barely stand.

“You need to go, Link.”

“I’m his best friend.”

“And I’m his wife.” She turned, and her eyes, tired as they were, had a fire in them Link had never seen before. “He needs me right now.”

“He needs me, Jessie!” Link started toward the door, but Jessie threw her body in between him and the only path to Rhett.

“Get out of my way, Jessie. I’m his best friend. If anybody can help him, I can.”

“You can’t see him, Link,” she repeated. 

Link felt a rage in his belly and the fire erupted from his mouth. “RHETT NEEDS ME!” he screamed.

Jessie backed away, the sorrow in her eyes growing deeper by the second. She wrapped her arms around herself. Out of the corner of his eye, Link saw the receptionist picking up the phone, her eyes wide as she watched them.

“Don’t you get it?” Jessie asked, her voice suddenly quiet. “He thinks he’s in love with you. All he wants right now is to see you. But how can that help him? How does that help me?”

She looked up at Link, and he finally saw the truth in her eyes. In Jessie’s mind, Rhett had betrayed her. Had betrayed their marriage. 

And even though nothing had happened between them, Jessie saw Link as the object of that betrayal. It was no wonder she couldn’t look directly at him for more than the briefest of moments. 

The knowledge slowly permeated through him and he sank to the floor. 

“Jessie … I didn’t …”

“I know, Link. But that doesn’t matter.”

“But I …”

“Go home, Link.”

She slipped through the door, leaving Link alone. 

“But I need Rhett,” he whispered. “I need him, too.”


	3. Chapter 3

Link mowed the lawn. He cleaned out the refrigerator. He reorganized the spice cabinet, first by bottle size, and then started over and arranged the bottles alphabetically. Anything to keep busy. Anything to get the look in Jessie’s eyes out of his mind. But nothing erased her pain. Nothing could make Link forget that defeated look deep in her soul.

She blamed him. But this wasn’t his fault. How could it be his fault?

In his mind, he rolled over the last few months. He saw the little things. He saw the new ways Rhett looked at him; the new ways he looked at Rhett. He saw the little touches, the jokes they didn’t shy away from, the lingering glances. The ways they had grown so much more comfortable in each other’s space. 

Link couldn’t pinpoint when that change happened. It had been slow and subtle, creeping into their world without either of them noticing. But they’d been an essential part of each other’s lives for so long, they couldn’t help but be close. And they had spent more time than ever this year working alone late into the evenings on their yet-to-be-revealed project, so of course things has changed, at least a little.

A memory, long stored away in the recesses of Link’s mind, suddenly popped into the forefront in full technicolor, sharp and precise. It had been February, and they had secluded themselves away for three days in a rented house in the mountains, not leaving until they had completed a script for their project. 

 

_ They fought all afternoon, hotter and harsher than ever before. Over the direction of the script, over ideas both big and small, and over insignificant bits of dialogue. They always fought more when the pressure was on to create something new, when they were in their most creative modes, and this was the biggest thing they had ever worked on.  _

_ Link’s anxiety and fear of failure was getting the best of him. He stood up from the couch and threw his hands in the air. “It’s never going to work.” _

_ “Yes, it is, Link!” Rhett roared. “We’ve got all the elements. We just have to find a way to tie it all together.” Rhett’s eyebrows were furrowed and angry.  _

_ Link couldn’t remember a fight this bad. It was all falling apart. They’d reached too far, and it was bringing out the worst in both of them. _

_ He started to walk away. “No. I’m done. We’re not ready for this.” His entire body shook as he started to walk out of the room, away from the project, away from Rhett, his arms crossed to control the quaking in his chest. _

_ Rhett’s strong arms caught him, bear hugging him and pulling him against his warm, broad chest. “Don’t go,” Rhett whispered. _

_ Tears welled in Link’s eyes as his body melted into Rhett’s embrace.  _

_ Rhett’s breath was hot on his cheek as his spoke in a hush. “We’ll make this work. I promise. We can do this. It’s you and me, buddy roll.” _

_ And then he felt Rhett’s lips, soft and pliant, press against the hollow of his cheek. It was more than a brotherly peck, less than a lingering kiss. But it brought Link back from the darkness, grounding him. His body ceased to shake. And in that moment, they were Rhett and Link again, the unstoppable duo, the blood brothers, who could do absolutely anything they set out to do. _

_ Rhett held him just a moment longer, squeezing him tight, and within minutes, they were back to work, and the script began to come to life. _

 

The rest of the time at the house had been so productive, so full of creative energy, that Link had forgotten that strange moment entirely. They had spent the next few days furiously churning out page after page of a script, lyrics, and even recording bits of music that would become an essential part of the project. It was some of the best work they’d ever produced.

But now Link was stuck on that moment. What had it meant? And was it somehow the catalyst for whatever was happening to Rhett? 

It was curious that he had forgotten. Something like that wasn’t normal. He should have remembered. But as the memory came back, even when it happened, it hadn’t felt out of place. It hadn’t felt wrong. In fact, something about it had even felt right. That’s why it had worked, wasn’t it? That’s why it had brought Link back to reality.

And it was just the day before, even though it seemed like an eternity ago, that Rhett had kissed him, really kissed him, at their campsite. Link touched his lips with two fingers and inhaled a slow, deep breath, the memory washing over him. 

He hadn’t kissed Rhett back. But he hadn’t rejected the kiss, either. 

Why?

Because it felt right, didn’t it?

“Damn it!” he yelled, slamming the cupboard door shut.

“Link?”

Christy’s voice cut through the fog of his mind.

“Link, are you okay?”

He mentally pulled himself together, shoving everything to the back of his mind, boxing it up and locking it behind thick walls. 

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine,” he mumbled as Christy walked into the kitchen, returning from wherever she had spent the day with the kids. He didn’t even know where they had gone. “I just slammed my finger in the cupboard door.”

Christy gave him a weak smile. “Are you sure that’s it?”

“Yeah. Listen, I gotta go work on some things. Let me know what dinner’s ready, okay? And try to keep the kids downstairs.”

She nodded, and Link disappeared upstairs to their bedroom. She was giving him the space he needed, but Link knew that Christy couldn’t be fooled. She knew he was suffering, and she wouldn’t let him go too long without telling her.

Link intended to get out his laptop and try to focus on something, anything, but as soon as he sat down on the bed, his felt his eyes get heavy. He gave in, laying down on top of the covers, and let himself drift off, hoping his dreams would be kinder to him than reality.


	4. Chapter 4

“Can we, Daddy?”

Link looked up from his plate. He had sat silently through dinner, the chaos of his three children spinning around him in fast forward as he pushed food around the plate without eating it.

“Sorry, Lando. What did you say?”

“Can we play PokemonGo after supper?”

Link’s youngest son looked up at his father with innocent eyes, and it killed Link to say no. Lando just wanted to take his phone to play a game, But he still hadn’t turned on his phone. He was afraid to. He knew the fan reaction was going to be bad, and he couldn’t face it.

But the other kids’ seemed to have sensed that something was wrong, and mercifully, Lily spoke up and offered to take Lando out with her phone.

Link let out a sigh of relief. “Thanks, Lily,” he said, patting his daughter’s hand. “Daddy’s pretty tired.”

“Why don’t you go with them, Lincoln?” Christy suggested. Lincoln grumbled a bit, but agreed. In a few minutes, the three kids had cleared their plates, taken their dishes to the kitchen, and were off.

“Stay on our block!” Christy called behind them. 

Link continued to stare at his plate.

“Okay, Link. You need to talk.”

Link looked up, and for the first time, saw the worry in Christy’s eyes. She knew something was wrong, something beyond just Rhett being unwell. 

“Link, I’ve tried calling Jessie, and she won’t answer. She won’t even text me back. That’s not like her at all.”

Christy made a sniffling noise, but no tears came. “Is there something more to this? Something you’re not telling me?”

Link pushed his plate back and and his head sank into his hands, elbows resting on the table. He felt so broken. 

“Link?”

He looked up and a tear ran down his cheek. 

“God, Link, what is it? Talk to me!” Her voice was shaking.

Link folded his hands in his lap, his knuckles turning white as he held them tight, trying not to shake. 

“Rhett … Rhett kissed me.”

Christy turned white and her eyes became huge and watery. “What do you mean he … kissed you?”

Link didn’t want to tell her any of it, but the words started tumbling out of his mouth. “He’s been acting so weird lately. It’s like he goes away for a little while, and when he comes back, he doesn’t know where he is. I thought it was just stress, you know? Like he was just lost in thought. But …”

“But what?”

Link ran a hand through his hair. “When we went camping, things got … weird. I mean, the first day was great. We hiked, swam, just had fun. A couple of guys doing guy things in the woods, just like old times. So I thought that was all it was. He just needed a break.”

Link hesitated. He didn’t want to talk about this. He didn’t want to relive it.

“But in the morning, when I woke up, Rhett was … he was …” The moment had been so quick. He hadn’t allowed himself to think about it at all. 

Christy stood up and walked to Link, sitting down in the chair Lando had occupied just a few minutes ago. “It’s okay, Link. You can tell me.”

But the quaver in her voice told Link she was dreading whatever he was about to say.

“Well, he was … curled up against me. Spooning. But Christy ... he was …”

“He was what, Link?”

A fresh rush of tears poured down Link’s face. He hadn’t done anything wrong, he knew that, but he felt so much shame and guilt. 

“He was hard, Christy. And he wasn’t asleep. He was …”

He didn’t finish. Christy could figure it out for herself.

And figure it out, she did. Her hand went to her mouth with a sharp intake of breath. 

“It took me a couple of seconds to even recognize what was going on. I tried to make a joke, but Rhett just flipped out. He ran out of the tent and starting ranting and raving and I couldn’t make heads or tails out of any of it. And then he started going on and on about the multiverse and how he’s been slipping out of different realities, and how in this other reality, he and I are married, and then …”

Christy said nothing, waiting for Link to finish.

Link’s voice dropped to a whisper. “And then he kissed me.”

Link took a deep breath. “And not just a quick kiss. He really kissed me. Like he was in love with me.”

“And what did you do?” Christy asked.

Link buried his face in his hands. “I didn’t do anything, Christy. I let him kiss me.”

“You …” Christy’s face was red. “You let him? What do you mean you let him?”

“I don’t know! It happened so fast! I didn’t know what to do! But then I did push him away and I brought him home to Jessie and got him to the hospital so he could get help. He was crazy, Christy!”

Now tears were falling from Christy’s eyes. This was so much worse than how Jessie had looked at him. This was his wife, the woman he loved, the mother of his children. And the pain he saw in here was brutal and raw and awful.

“So that’s why Jessie won’t talk to me?”

Link nodded. “She kicked me out of the hospital. She said Rhett still thinks he’s in love with me and it won’t help him to see me.”

Christy nodded, but her entire body was shaking.

“So … what are you doing to do?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean … do you … do you …” But she trailed off, unwilling to finish.

“Christy, I don’t ....” But Link couldn’t finish either. He didn’t know what he felt. 

“Don’t you, Link? I mean, God, you’ve been friends with him for way longer than you’ve known me. You have something with him that you’ve never had with me. I’ve never minded that. It’s good to see that men can have that. But Link …”

Link grabbed her hands. “You’re my wife, Christy. I would never do anything to betray you.”

She nodded. “No, I know that. But I can see it in your eyes. You’re conflicted about this. You feel guilty. And why? Why is that? You wouldn’t feel guilty if there wasn’t something ...”

Link shook his head. 

“It’s because somewhere inside, somewhere you’ve hidden away, you feel … you feel something for Rhett that you’ve never felt for me.”

“Baby, I love you. You know I love you.”

“I know. I don’t doubt that. But … I’m not the only one you love, am I?

Link stood up and started clearing the table. He couldn’t answer the question. He didn’t want to even consider such a thing. He was a married man, a father. This didn’t make sense. He didn’t love Rhett. Not like that. Of course he loved him. Rhett was his blood brother, his best friend. But that was a different kind of love, wasn’t it?

He started toward the sink, and Christy caught him from behind, wrapping her arms around his waist and whispered through her tears. 

“I love you so much, Link. I don’t want to lose you. But I can’t share you.”

Link’s entire chest heaved and he dropped all of the plates he held. There was a huge crash as the dishes shattered into a million pieces against the hardwood floor. 

“I’ll clean this up,” he said, not turning to look at her. He heard her shuffle out of the room, and he knelt on the floor amongst the broken pieces of his life that he knew would never go back together.


	5. Chapter 5

Link pulled into the parking lot behind Mythical Entertainment long after dark. The tips of his fingers smarted from the tiny cuts that covered them after picking up every piece of broken plate from the kitchen floor. After taking everything to the trash, Link had left without saying a word to Christy or the kids. Christy would cover for him. He just couldn’t bear to be in the house with her. Not after what she’d accused him of.

She wasn’t wrong though, was she?

Link had driven around aimlessly for a while before he found himself parked in front of Rhett’s house. The lights were on, and he saw Rhett’s sons playing in the yard under the watch of a teenage girl. If there was a babysitter, Jessie was still at the hospital. No point in going there, then.

Unable to go home, and unable to go to Rhett, he had gone to the only place he could, and that was work. After all, their room, the office they shared, had always felt more like home than anywhere else. Link longed for some kind of comfort, something to fill the emptiness, and this was the only place he might find it.

He climbed the stairs into the nap loft, but instead of going to his own recliner, he curled up in Rhett’s chair. There was a hoodie there, laid causally over the arm, and Link pulled it over his head, wrapping his body in Rhett’s warmth and inhaling his scent. A small smile crossed his face for the first time in what felt like forever.

In minutes, Link was fast asleep. His dreams rolled gently across his subconscious. Images of Rhett’s arms wrapped around him as they slept or Rhett’s finger’s caressing his as they held hands came in waves and rocked him, keeping him locked in slumber

He woke once in the middle of the night, and panicked for a moment, disoriented, unsure where he was. But the faint woody aroma coming off the sweatshirt brought him back to reality. He rolled over and pulled his arms tightly around him.

He only fell back to sleep when he imagined those arms were Rhett’s instead of his own.

If he had let himself think about it, the idea that only Rhett could bring him comfort would be strange. But never, never in these 30 years, had Rhett been taken from him. Even that summer that Rhett had gone away, Link had known he was coming back. Rhett had been a part of his life for so long that he had taken him for granted.

Only now that his presence was forcibly removed did Link realize the depth and the strength of his need for Rhett. Without Rhett, he was empty, directionless, and terrified. Rhett grounded him, took away his anxiety, filled in the spaces and the holes in his soul.

Without Rhett, Link was nothing.

A light rap, far away, sounded at the door. Half awake, but still dreaming, a teenaged Link snuggled tighter into a teenaged Rhett and mumbled “five more minutes, Mom.”

The door creaked open. “Link?” Steve’s voice echoed through the empty office.

Link’s eyes flew open. His glasses, which he had never bothered to remove, sat askew on his face. He took them off and cleaned them with the edge of Rhett’s sweatshirt. 

“I’m here,” he called down. “ Hang on a second.” His voice was gravelly. His throat was dry and his lips were cracking. He felt in his pocket for a lip balm, but he didn’t have any. 

He started to head down into the office, but realized his was still wearing Rhett’s shirt. It was a maroon hoodie he’d had for a long time, and it was baggy on Link, dwarfing him. Everyone would know it wasn’t Link’s. He tugged it off, taking one more long inhale of the fading scent of Rhett before tossing it back onto the chair.

Steve was sitting in the chair next to the door, her hands folded in her lap, her long blond hair covered by a black cap. She stood when Link came into view.

“I didn’t think you were coming in,” she said, not quite meeting his eyes. 

Link shrugged. “I came in late last night. I got tired and went upstairs to take a nap. I guess I slept through the night.”

He didn’t try to lie and say he’d been working on anything. He hadn’t been, and she would know he hadn’t checked his emails or even logged into his laptop.

“Everybody is worried about you,” she said. She looked up, her eyes unsure. 

Link found a bottle of water on his desk. It was stale and warm, but it was wet and soothed his throat. “They should be worried about Rhett.”

“Do you want to say anything to them?”

Link shook his head. “There’s nothing to say.”

Stevie inhaled as if about to speak, but then didn’t. She turned to leave. 

“Can you …” Link hesitated, the request feeling unreasonable and selfish even before it passed his lips.

Stevie turned. 

“Can you just gather everybody up for a quick meeting or something so I can sneak out without having to see anybody?” He choked on the words as he felt the burn of oncoming tears in the back of his throat.

She nodded, and left. A few minutes later, he quietly left the office behind and drove away with nowhere to go.


	6. Chapter 6

It was stupid. So stupid. But it was the only thing that made sense.

Link hadn’t packed anything. Not even water. And he wasn’t dressed for it. But here he was, hiking up the same trail he and Rhett and taken to the hidden lagoon on their camping trip. 

When he had driven away from the office, all Link could think was that if he felt this alone without Rhett, Rhett must have it even worse. He was stuck there in that cold hospital with no familiar comforts and no one to understand him. Stuck there without his other half. 

Link knew he was the only one who could figure this out and make it right. Jessie was too hurt to understand it. And no doctor could accept that it was real.

Link wasn’t certain it was real. But this was Rhett. If he believed it, then Link had to believe him, too. Because if he didn’t, no one else would. 

When he made it to the lagoon, sweaty, thirsty, and out of breath, Link collapsed on the ground, his lungs heaving. A cool breeze from the rush of the waterfall swept over him. He slowed his breathing and took in deep gulps of the fresh air, catching the scent of pine and dry leaves, taking him back to Rhett. 

Rhett. That is why he was here. This is where things had finally fallen apart. So it was where Link would put it back together.

“Okay, buddyroll,” Link began, closing his eyes and rolling his neck. “You believe this. Help me see it, too.”

He took several long, deep breaths, keeping his eyes closed. He swung his legs around, sitting cross legged, concentrating hard on what little he knew about this alternate universe Rhett claimed to have experienced. It had seemed like they had hiked here in Rhett’s other life, but in that universe, they had done more than just swim and eat. Maybe. Rhett hadn’t really said. But when Link had told him that was all they had done, Rhett had seemed to cave in with disappointment, as if in his memories, that hike had been much more.

“What happened here?” he whispered. But he didn’t know what he was trying to accomplish. Rhett’s other place seemed to occur parallel to this one in time. Link wouldn’t be able to go back. Would he?

He didn’t know the rules. Rhett didn’t either. He talked about the multiverse all the time, but it was all theoretical, all conjecture. Link always loved listening to Rhett talk about whatever he was passionate about, whatever new layer he was discovering, because it was when Rhett was the most alive. It didn’t matter how little Link cared about the subject; he would learn to care, because Rhett cared.

So while the details were vague, he’d never gotten the impression that time ran differently.

“What did you see? Where did you go?”

Rhett had made it sound like the trip had happened, but differently. He had gone hiking with Link, but not Link. A Link he was married to. As if he had switched places with this other Rhett. 

Another Link. “Another me?” He conjured an image of himself and Rhett standing in front of a mirror, gazing at their reflections. Except the reflections didn’t move with them. Little things were different. A slightly different swoop to Link’s hair. A bushier beard on Rhett. They stood closer. Their hands touched. 

Could he find this other version of himself and switch, like Rhett had? Was that possible? He didn’t know what he would learn, but at least, if he could somehow make that happen, it would mean that it was true. 

And that would mean that Rhett wasn’t crazy. 

“Where are you, me?”

The wind changed. It didn’t shift. It was just suddenly blowing the other way. Link opened his eyes, and he still sat there in the same spot, but across the lagoon, on the same rock where he and Rhett had talk for hours, were two men.

Not two men. It was them. 

“Rhett!” Link screamed across the water, but neither of them reacted. “Rhett!” He stood and waved his arms in the air, and even though Rhett was looking directly at him, he didn’t react.

“They can’t see me.”

But what was this? Rhett didn’t describe having watched the other universe. He had been in it, experienced it. 

He listened, and over the roar of the waterfall, he could just barely hear them.

“We sat right here,” Rhett said. “We talked about our wives. And our kids. You have a son named Lando!”

The other Link laughed. “That’s ridiculous. I mean, I love Star Wars, but Lando? Come on!”

“It’s true, though, man.” Rhett shook his head, sadly. Link could tell that the other Link didn’t believe him.

The other Link put a hand on Rhett’s face, caressing his cheek through his thick beard. “Listen. We don’t have wives. You have a husband. Me.”

Rhett put his hand over Link’s. The look in his eyes was soft. “I know. But it was so real. You and I … we were just friends. I mean, best friends, but just friends. If I tried to touch you, you backed away. Made jokes. It hurt. And this woman, her name was Jessie, she was there for me where you weren’t.”

Link watched his other self cringe, but he didn’t pull his hand back from Rhett. He was holding back how much Rhett’s confession hurt him. It was exactly what Link would do. Because it wasn’t about him. It was about Rhett.

“I’m sorry,” the other Link said. “I would never hurt you like that. I hope you know that.”

Rhett nodded and choked on a sob. “I do. But I feel so torn. It was this whole other life. And yeah, man, it hurt like hell not to have you. But it was nice, too. Not having to worry about the judgement all the time. I was just a normal guy with a normal family. And being a dad?” Rhett stopped short and the tears started to flow.

Link felt his heart break. His Rhett was an amazing dad. He reveled in it. Sure, he made a lot of jokes about it on the show, making himself sound like he didn’t care that much, but in reality, he doted on Locke and Shepherd. They were his world. This Rhett didn’t have that. And he wanted it.

Link closed his eyes, holding back his own tears. 

When he opened them, he gazed up into grey-green eyes and felt the rough brush of beard under his fingers. He gasped. He’d done it. He was here, in the other universe, with the other Rhett. 

“You are a normal guy with a normal family,” Link heard himself say. “There’s nothing abnormal about what we are.” 

Rhett broke down further, and Link sat taller, pulling Rhett to his shoulder, letting him weep. He didn’t know where those words came from, but he knew they were what this Rhett needed to hear. 

“We have each other. That’s all we need.”

Rhett, still wet-faced, took Link’s face in his hands. “I love you, Link.”

Before Link could respond, Rhett’s lips were on his. And his soul exploded. 

Link grasped at the front of Rhett’s shirt, pulling him closer. Rhett’s mouth overtook his, his tongue thrusting inside and exploring every corner. Link leaned back and took Rhett with him, letting him settle his huge body in between his legs. 

Link pushed his hips up and groaned as their pelvises met. Rhett was just as hard as he was. Oh god, it was so wrong. Yet … it felt completely right, completely natural, all at the same time. It was no wonder Rhett had fallen in so deeply he couldn’t see the light anymore.

Rhett sat up and knelt, pulling his shirt off. Link had seen him shirtless before, but never from this angle. Without thinking, he reached up and ran his fingers down Rhett’s chest, starting at the collarbone and dancing down to his nipples. Rhett shuddered. Link stopped, scared he had done something wrong.

“Don’t stop,” Rhett whispered, closing his eyes. 

Link sat up, his hands on Rhett’s hips, and took his friend’s nipple in his mouth, lapping at it with his long tongue. Rhett groaned and rolled his hips toward Link, searching for any contact. Link’s left hand drifted down and found Rhett.

Rhett throbbed against him, even through his jeans. “I need you,” Rhett moaned. 

“I’m yours,” Link whispered into Rhett’s chest.

Rhett grabbed the bottom of Link’s shirt and pulled it upward. Link heard stitches popping and his glasses pulled partly off. 

“Sorry,” Rhett said. He tossed the shirt aside and gently took Link’s glasses from his face, just as his own Rhett had done so many times. It was the same gesture and he took the same care to make sure he didn’t accidently hurt Link or touch the lenses. He laid the glasses down on the shirt and brought his attention back to Link.

He brought his mouth back to Link’s, letting his beard tickle his lips before kissing him slowly and sweetly. Link brought his hands back to Rhett’s hips, tugging them down, desperately needing to feel Rhett against him, but Rhett resisted. 

“Not yet,” he whispered into the corner of Link’s mouth. Link moaned with need, and Rhett continued kissing down Link’s neck, tracing down his breastbone.

Link almost giggled when Rhett ran his tongue in a circle around his belly button, but the laugh died on his lips when Rhett moved to the side, half kissing, half biting the sensitive spot just above his hip bone. He inhaled sharply. Christy had never touched him like this. 

Link closed his eyes, and for a moment, he couldn’t feel Rhett anymore. He opened his eyes, and there was Rhett, looking up at him with those sultry eyes, about to unbutton his pants.

But his vision blurred. Something was wrong. Rhett started to go out of focus. Was he losing his connection?

Panicking, Link pulling Rhett up to him and kissed him hard. Their hips collided, and Link nearly came right then and there. He was desperate to feel Rhett against him, skin to skin. He had to stay in the moment. He fumbled with Rhett’s zipper and quickly pushed them down. Rhett did the same. 

Rhett hovered above him, and just for a moment, Link let his eyes linger where he had never allowed them to before, and certainly never in this state. Before this moment, he would have looked away, blushed, pretended it had never happened, or made a stupid joke. But now? Now all he could do was imagine all the ways he could bring Rhett pleasure. And all the ways Rhett could do the same to him.

Without thinking, Link pushed Rhett to the side and rolled so he was astride him. He crashed down on Rhett, letting their lips and their cocks collide at the same time. They groaned together as Link rocked faster and harder, their tongues tangling in a fury of gasps and moans. 

The tension between his legs built and built, and just before he came, he whispered “I love you” into the hollow behind Rhett’s ear.

Rhett thrust his hips up and grasped Link’s ass, pulling the two men as tightly together as two people could be. Rhett screamed as he came, a sound Link had never heard, and it set off his own orgasm. He moaned into Rhett’s neck as he released all of the tension and the agony he’d felt for so long. They moved in unison, slower and slower, until they were both spent. Link collapsed on Rhett’s chest, exhausted.

This is what had alway been missing. And neither of them had ever realized it. It was here all along, and they had never seen what they could be together. Why had it taken falling into another reality for them to notice that they had always loved each other?

“I’m so sorry, Rhett.” Tears were streaming down his face. 

Rhett shifted Link to his side, letting him curl into his body. Link felt safe and protected in Rhett’s arms. 

Rhett tilted Link’s chin up. “For what?”

“For never loving you the way I should.”

Rhett pressed his lips into Link’s forehead. “You’ve always been everything I needed.”

Link nodded. To this Rhett, maybe he had been. Or the other Link had been. But he hadn’t been, not for his own Rhett. And he needed to get back to him. He needed to tell him everything.

But not yet. He was too tired. He closed his eyes and drifted off into the best sleep of his life.


	7. Chapter 7

Link opened his eyes.

He was back where he started, fully clothed, sitting on the bank of the lagoon, staring at the empty rock where he had fallen asleep just moments ago.

He shook his head and rubbed his eyes. Had it been real at all? A hallucination? But as he drew a finger across his lips, he could feel the tender places where Rhett’s beard had burned his skin. 

Next to him, he noticed his phone lying on the ground next to his wallet. The wallet was open, and the family photos he kept inside it were sitting out, loose. He picked up the photographs and tucked them back into the plastic sleeves. 

He picked up his phone and the lock screen appeared, which was strange, as he hadn’t turned it on in days. He input his passcode and the phone unlocked. The notes app was open, and something had been typed there.

 

_ Dear … Link? Me? Alternate universe Link? Sorry. I don’t know what to call you. _

_ We have the same passcode. Strange, isn’t it? I mean, I guess it makes sense. You’re me. I’m you. We’re we. God, this is weird. I didn’t believe Rhett at first. But here I am. And I guess that means you’re with him. I don’t know if I should be happy or jealous. But if I’ve put the pieces together correctly, I’ve slept with your Rhett, so I guess I can’t really be jealous of anything you do with mine. _

_ I don’t know what the point of this is. I guess … I just want to help you help your Rhett. If he’s like my Rhett, he’s in a lot of pain right now. He’s alone and confused. So I guess this is how I can prove to you that this is real, and you can tell him you believe him. Then he won’t be alone.  _

_ He needs you right now. I’m sure you know that. I guess it’s different for you, since you’re not together. But you’re still everything to him. I feel that in my bones. And judging by how many pictures of him you’ve got on your phone, I think he’s everything to you, too. Don’t forget that. You’re in this together. _

_ Sincerely, _

_ Your Other You _

_ P.S. Lando? Really? _

  
  


Link chuckled, but his amusement was quickly drowned out by the rest of it.

Real. It was real. “Oh my god,” he mumbled under his breath. He’d slept with Rhett. Sort of. Multiverse Rhett. Not even his own Rhett. 

He ran a hand through his hair. “Jesus, Christy. What am I going to tell Christy?” They were already on the edge. And of course, he loved his wife and his children.

But Rhett. That was something else all together. He had no memory of a time without Rhett. Not really. It was Rhett who had been there all through his childhood and the awkward years of middle school. It was Rhett who had taken a blood oath with him. Rhett, who had given up basketball to make sure he and Link would have a future together. Rhett, who was always there for him, no matter what stupid thing he’d done or said. Rhett, who would always pick up the pieces when Link was broken.

“God, how did I never see it?” He was yelling at the air. At himself. At the world. He felt immeasurably stupid. He had always loved Rhett. Always. 

And was he attracted to him?

Maybe. It wasn’t a feeling he would have allowed himself to acknowledge, though. Not growing up in a small Southern town. It wouldn’t have been an option.

How had his other self managed it?

He had so many questions, and he knew many of them would never be answered. But he could do something about the future. He had to see Rhett.

Link closed the app and saw he had a host of notifications. Emails, texts, and other app notifications. He knew the emails could wait, but he checked his texts. At the top, sent only minutes before, was a message from Jessie.

 

_ Rhett is home. He wants to see you.  _

 

Even through the screen, Link could hear the warning behind her words. She did not want Link to come. She was asking only because Rhett had requested his presence. And she would not tolerate anything that might lead Rhett on.

Link had no idea how on earth he would navigate the scene he was about to walk into, but he knew he had to do it. He stuffed his wallet into his pocket and sent a reply as he started back down the path.

 

_ Be there as soon as I can. _

  
Before the phone was even back in his pocket, Link was running.


	8. Chapter 8

Rhett sat on the couch, slouched and glassy-eyed. His jaw was slack and his cheeks fell flat against his face, his natural glow gone and his skin pale. He was medicated. Heavily, it seemed. It broke Link to see the light gone from those eyes.

“He wouldn’t take his medicine until I agreed to let you come,” Jessie told him as he stood by the door. “He was angry. He wouldn’t stop yelling.” Her eyes were puffy from crying. 

Link nodded, but didn’t know what to say to her. 

“Don’t stay long,” she told him. “He needs to rest.” 

Link stepped forward slowly, unsure how to approach the shell of a man in the living room. He took a seat on the chair, his knees within an inch of Rhett’s, but not touching. Rhett looked to him, and a tiny bit of life returned to his eyes, but only for a moment. Then he looked down at his shoes, wordless.

“Hey, Rhett,” Link said, his voice soft. Rhett’s eyes flicked up, as if responding to the sound of Link’s voice. “How are you?”

“Hungry,” came the answer. “Hospital food is horrible.”

Link laughed, and for just a second, Rhett’s cheeks puffed up and turned pink. And then it was gone again. 

“I guess I should have sent an edible arrangement or something,” Link said. “Maybe a bouquet of beans.”

Rhett’s laugh came in just a soft exhale through his nose and a tiny shake of his shoulders. 

Link didn’t know how to proceed or what to say, especially with Jessie standing guard. He didn’t want to hurt her. God, no. But he did want to tell Rhett the truth. Needed to. 

“Hey, Jessie? Could I get a glass of water? I was out hiking when I got your text and I rushed back.”

She nodded and made her way to the kitchen. Link waited, and as soon as he was gone, he dropped to his knees in front of his friend.

“Rhett, I need you to listen,” he whispered. He took one of Rhett’s hands in his own. 

Rhett looked down at him, his eyes still far away. 

“Rhett, I’m sorry for sending you away. The truth is … it’s all true, man. I saw it myself.”

Rhett cocked his head to the side. “I don’t understand.”

Link pulled Rhett’s head down and pressed their foreheads together, one hand on either side of Rhett’s face. “I believe you.”

Rhett recoiled from Link’s touch, his face screwed up in an unrecognizable expression. Link’s hands dropped to his sides. 

He heard Jessie’s footsteps in the hall, and he returned to his seat. Rhett was staring at him, but Link couldn’t read anything there. Rhett might as well have been a stranger. 

Jessie entered the room and handed a glass of water to Link. No ice, he noticed.

“Thanks,” he sat, his voice polite, but cool. He chugged the water. The request had been an excuse to get her out of the room, but in truth, he was nearing dehydration. Going up there without water had been stupid, and he knew it. But it had been worth it. Nothing else in his life had been so worth it. Except maybe quitting his job to fulfill he and Rhett’s joint dreams.

“When do you think you’ll be ready to come back to work?” he asked Rhett, who had looked away and was now examining his hands.

“Next week,” Jessie answered for him. “Monday. He should rest until then. He’ll be seeing his therapist daily this week, and twice a week after that, or more if he needs it.”

“That often?” Link asked. 

Jessie nodded and swallowed. “They didn’t want to send him home. But I thought being away from his home might just be confusing him even more. I thought if he was home … with the kids … with me …”

She made a choking noise, and turned her head. 

“Jesus, Jessie, I’m sorry.” He stood, naturally wanting to hug her and make it better, but she turned her body away and waved him off.

He truly, truly, didn’t want to do this to her. Any of it. It wasn’t right. And it certainly wasn’t kind.

“Christ, what am I doing?” he muttered to himself, quiet enough that she couldn’t hear him. He had no answer. If he made any moves at all, he and Rhett would be destroying these two women they had each fallen in love with. And Lord only knew what it would do to their children.

But what would it do to him to try and bottle up everything he was now feeling?

It would tear him apart. It already had shredded Rhett to pieces.

Was it right or kind to keep that secret? To let it destroy all of them slowly? Because it would do just that, in time. 

He wouldn’t do anything yet. Not yet. But soon, it all would have to come to light. Or they would all find themselves in despair.

As he moved to leave, Link noticed that Rhett was fidgeting with something in his hands. He took a closer took, and realized it was his wedding band. He was twirling it gently around and around between his fingers. Odd, Link thought. It was something he did frequently, without even noticing. There were abundant GIFs of it on the internet, because everyone but him had taken note. But Rhett had never done it. Not once.

“I’ll see you next week, man,” Link said as he moved past Rhett. He reached out hesitantly and patted Rhett’s shoulder. He heard Rhett inhale sharply at the touch, and it made him withdraw his hand. “I’ll pick you up Monday morning.”

He left without a word to Jessie.

He didn’t mention anything to Christy, either, after finally going home. 

For the next week, Link remained mostly silent, both at home and work. Christy and the kids seemed to know that he was having a difficult time, and left him be. At the office, he worked alone, locked away behind the doors only he and Rhett were allowed behind, giving the crew ideas and feedback by email only.

Everything in his mind was too jumbled, too confusing, to interact with anyone. Because at any moment, he might accidently let what he was thinking spill out. And he couldn’t let that happen.

Not before he could say it all to Rhett.

What kept him mostly together was that even though they’d had to put the show into temporary hiatus, the overall fan response was not what he’d expected. 

Knowing what a harsh place the internet could be, Link fully expected criticism and even a loss of subscribers. Young viewers, especially, could be fickle.

Sure, there were a few comments from viewers who hadn’t seen Link’s announcement asking where the videos were, and a few hateful comments about how Good Mythical Morning was going down the toilet, but they were fewer and further between than Link had prepared himself for.

Overwhelmingly, though, the tweets and comments were supportive, wishing Rhett a speedy recovery and sending prayers and good thoughts his way. These were largely from loyal viewers, the regular tweeters and commenters. The fans likely didn’t realize it, but Link did take notice of those frequent fliers, and recognized more than a few screennames. Knowing that those viewers were concerned only for Rhett’s health, and not for their own lack of entertainment, made him feel just a little better about the world.

When Monday morning finally rolled around, Link took more care than normal in the morning. He showered and shaved with extra diligence, used more cologne than usual, and dressed in a blue  button-down shirt that Rhett had once mentioned liking on him.

He hadn’t heard from Rhett at all, except a brief “yep” in response to his own text of “see you tomorrow?” on Sunday night. It was the longest they’d gone without speaking since Rhett’s summer in Europe back in college

Rhett was on the porch waiting, Jessie at his side, when Link drove up. He watched as Rhett leaned down to let Jessie kiss his cheek before making his way to the street.

“Morning,” Rhett said nonchalantly as he slid awkwardly into the car. He was just too tall for most vehicles to get in gracefully.

“Morning to you, too,” Link replied, his voice shaking. He felt like he was back in high school, picking up a cute girl for a first date. Which was stupid as hell, he knew. This was Rhett. And it was work. They literally did this every single day.

Rhett took a sip of coffee from his travel mug. “I guess we’re pretty behind, aren’t we?”

Link nodded. “A bit. I got a lot done last week. We did have to stop posting videos, but we’ll get back on track soon. I gave you today and tomorrow to get back in the swing, and we’re scheduled to film the rest of the week so we can start posting new videos as soon as possible.”

“Yeah,” Rhett said. “Sounds like a good plan.”

He seemed more alive than he had when Link had seen him at the house. Not quite his usual self, but not drugged. Still, he was quiet, and the silence was deafening. Their drives were never silent. 

When they arrived, he and Rhett were able to get to their office without delay. He had instructed the crew not to treat Rhett any differently than they normally would. The few that they passed smiled and said good morning, but that was it. Link didn’t want Rhett’s return to be any more awkward than it already was.

Finally, in the privacy of their room, Link tried to relax, but couldn’t. Every muscle in his body was tense and sharp, ready to snap if pulled just another millimeter. Every nerve was on fire. 

Rhett settled into his chair, turning on his computer and slowly looking through his emails. But Link paced, unsure what to do or say. Rhett was acting as if nothing had changed. Like he’d just taken a week’s vacation and nothing more. 

But everything had changed. 

“You okay, man?”

Rhett’s voice startled Link. He looked up and saw that he was wringing his hands and sweat was dripping from his temples. He wanted to tell Rhett everything. Needed to. 

He opened his mouth.

“Yeah. Fine. Just anxious, I guess.”

Rhett furrowed his brow, but nodded and turned back to his computer.

Link sat at his own desk. “I emailed you everything for the episodes we’re filming this week. Look over it and tell me what you think. Or if there’s anything you want to change.”

“On it,” Rhett said. 

They worked in silence for an hour. The longest hour of Link’s life. 

His hands were shaking and his palms were clammy. “Rhett?”

“Yeah?”

Rhett turned in his chair. 

“Can we … can we …”

“Spit it out, Neal.” Rhett stood, towering over Link. Rhett’s height had never bothered him, and for the first time, he felt truly intimidated by the big man.

Link bit his lip. “I just … you need to know that ... “

“Jesus, Link, what is it?”

Impulse and need took over, and Link stood on tiptoe and pulled Rhett’s face to his own, pressing his lips against Rhett’s. 

For a second, perhaps not even, Link felt Rhett’s lips give, and he thought Rhett was going to kiss him back. 

Then he felt the hands on his chest, pushing him away. 

“What the hell are you doing?”

  
Before Rhett’s icy eyes could see him cry, Link ran to the stairs and retreated to the loft.


	9. Chapter 9

The tears stung Link’s eyes as he curled into himself on his recliner. He buried his face in Rhett’s sweatshirt that was still laying there just to stifle the sound of his pain. He didn’t want Rhett to hear him.

It didn’t matter, though, because Rhett had followed him up.

“What the fuck was that, Link?” 

Link looked up. Rhett’s face was red and his nostrils were flared out. He towered over Link, who pulled his legs in tighter, as if he could make himself tiny enough to disappear.

Rhett grabbed the sweatshirt and pulled it out of Link’s hands, throwing it to the ground. “You don’t get to hide. What were you thinking?”

“I don’t know, I don’t know,” Link said through his sobs. 

Rhett paced. “All I’ve done for the past week … or however long it has been … is try to regain my grip on reality. To forget about this messed up hallucination or delusion or whatever it is.”

Link could hear the desperation in Rhett’s voice. “Rhett, please, listen to me …”

“No, Link, you listen!” Rhett shouted. “I’m barely hanging on to my identity. And my wife and my kids are suffering because I can’t figure it all out. Being around you …even just seeing you, makes it harder. You have to know that. And you’re the one that pushed me away when I was losing it. And now you go and kiss me? What the hell, man?” 

As Rhett’s voice got louder and louder, Link felt himself recoiling. Rhett must have noticed, because he sighed and put his hands on his hips. The he sat in his own chair, his elbows on his knees, and buried his face in his hands.

“I’m sorry for yelling. But whatever that was, and I don’t even want you to explain it, you can’t do it again.”

Link squeezed his eyes shut. He needed to explain it. He couldn’t let Rhett out there on his on.

“Rhett …”

“Don’t, man. Just don’t.”

“Rhett, it was real. All of it.” He reached out his hand, placing it on Rhett’s leg. 

Rhett pushed Link’s hand away and glared at him. “Don’t fucking patronize me. You don’t need to coddle me to make me feel better about this. I had some kind of mental breakdown. Invented some screwed up fan …”

Rhett stopped himself. 

“It wasn’t a fantasy,” Link said.

“Delusion,” Rhett said. “I invented some kind of delusion, and I need to do everything I can to ground myself back in reality. With my wife.”

“Right,” Link said, turning away. “Your wife.”

Rhett stood. “I don’t get you, man. You’re supposed to be my friend. My best friend. You should be helping me deal with this. But all you’re doing is making it harder.”

Link refused to look at him.

“I’m going down to meet with Stevie. I’ll probably work out there the rest of the day. You … you just stay here and get your head on straight.”

He stormed down, and a few minutes later, Link heard the door to their office slam. 

He didn’t see Rhett for the rest of the day. He had no idea what Rhett did for lunch, but Link couldn’t stomach the thought of food. He just stayed in the office, alternating between staring blankly at his computer screen and laying on the couch, trying to wish himself back in time, back to when everything made sense.

At the end of the day, Link drove them home in silence. Rhett left the car without a word. He hesitated slightly before shutting the door, as if maybe, just maybe, he was going to talk to Link again, but he just shut the door and walked away.

His silence cut far deeper than his anger. It was that awful silence that haunted Link for the rest of the evening. 

“Link, are you coming to bed?”

Link was on the couch, dozing after another dinner Link had only picked at. The kids were already in bed. Christy waited at the bottom of the stairs. 

Link looked up at his wife, his beautiful, gorgeous, wife. The woman he had chosen to spend his life with, who had given birth to the children he adored, who had encouraged him and Rhett to pursue their dreams. 

He loved her. And he couldn’t do it to her. He couldn’t sleep next to her while thinking of someone else. 

He knew that he should go upstairs and make love to his wife. He should try to forget about all of this and pretend none of it had ever happened. 

But he couldn’t. And Christy would see through him if he tried.

“I think I’ll sleep on the couch tonight.”

Christy nodded, and Link saw in her eyes that she knew their marriage was over. But in that look there was no anger, just a sad resignation to the inevitable. Perhaps she had always known somehow that she would never fully have Link’s heart. 

“Can I get you a blanket?”

Link shook his head. He deserved to be cold. “I’m fine.”

She started up the stairs.

“Christy?”

She stopped halfway up. “Yeah?”

“I love you.”

She swallowed hard. “I know.” And she disappeared into the darkness above. Link laid down on his back and waited for sleep to take him.

It was sleep fraught with nightmares. 

He woke to the sound of his own gasp, with no memory of a dream, just the emptiness of loss permeating his body.

“You okay, Link?”

It was then that he noticed he was in a bed, not the couch, and Rhett’s arm was draped across his torso. He felt heat creeping into his face.

He rolled over and found himself face to face with a sleepy looking Rhett. “I … I’m …”

A sweet smile crept across Rhett’s face. “You’re him, aren’t you?”

“What?”

“The Link who was with me at the waterfall.”

Link blushed and he looked down. Rhett was barechested. 

“How did you know?”

Rhett shrugged. “You breathe differently, and your pulse is faster.”

“You can tell all that?”

“Sleep next to a man for long enough and you notice these things. You breathe like he used to. Before there was us.”

Before there was us. What did that mean? 

“I don’t understand.”

“I think you do,” Rhett said. He placed a hand on Link’s cheek, and Link immediately felt his breathing slow. His anxiety melted away and the world felt right. “See?”

Link nodded. 

“About the waterfall …”

“Don’t worry about it,” Rhett said. “It helped.”

“How?”

“Link … my Link, I mean, he believed me, but he didn’t get it, you know? Now he does.”

“And he’s not mad at me? For …”

Rhett chuckled. “How could he be? Technically, he did it first with your Rhett.”

Link frowned. Somehow, that didn’t make it better. 

“But you needed it, didn’t you?”

“What do you mean?”

“Not just to see that it was real. The other universe. But to see that your love was real.”

A single tear snuck out. “But that wasn’t him. It was you.”

“But to you, it was him.”

Link pinched the bridge of his nose. “None of this makes sense.”

“No, I guess it doesn’t. But it really doesn’t matter if it makes sense. What matters is what’s happening over there.”

“What about here?”

Rhett smiled. “Things are perfect here.”

Link had hoped to hear that this Rhett was struggling just as much. Not because he wanted him to suffer, but because he didn’t want to believe that it was his fault that his Rhett was so angry. 

“But how? Rhett … my Rhett, he’s in a bad place. I don’t know what to do for him. How did you recover so fast?”

“It’s different for me, I guess. Your Rhett has this other reality to contend with. He has a wife and kids he doesn’t want to let go of. And you’re there every second, tempting him. For me, Jessie and the kids are kind of like a dream. They don’t exist here. I mean, I guess Jessie does, somewhere out there in the world, but the kids don’t exist at all. So all I have is Link. There’s nothing tempting me to some other life."

Link nodded. It did make sense. He couldn’t expect Rhett to have an easy time with this. 

“Go easy on him,” Rhett said. “Let him know you’re there. But don’t push him. He has to make this decision on his own.”

“I’ll try. But what if …”

Rhett smiled sadly. “I don’t know. I wish I did. I want to think that you two will be just as happy as we are. But I can’t tell you the future.”

Link let his head droop, his forehead resting on Rhett’s chest. He listened to the large man’s heart beating and he longed for it to be his Rhett’s heart beating for him.

“Do you know how all this works?” Link asked. 

“Not really. I mean, I have lots of ideas, but I don’t know anything for certain.”

“Will you tell me?” He just wanted Rhett to keep talking. This Rhett’s voice was soft and caring, completely opposite of the angry, cold voice he had last heard from his Rhett. It was like music.

Rhett sighed out of deep thought, not exasperation. “The best guess I have is that the barriers between the universes get thinner the closer two realities are to each other. The more similar they are, I mean. And the easiest ways to cross those barriers are sleep and water.”

“Water?”

“Yeah. Not sure why. But those seem to be what has brought on the times your Rhett and I switched.”

“So how did I do it?”

“My guess? Sheer will power. And that says a lot about how much you love him.”

Link nodded. “I do. I didn’t know it until now, but I love him.”

Rhett lightly patted Link’s cheek. “You did know. You just never admitted it.”

Link felt one side of his mouth curl up into a half smile. “You’re probably right.”

They laid there in silence for a few minutes. “So how do I get back?”

“Go back to sleep, probably. Where’s my Link sleeping tonight?”

Link let out a small chuckle. “On my couch. Probably cold, because I didn’t let my wife leave me a blanket.”

“He’s gonna be pissed.”

Link smiled. “Tell him I’m sorry, will you?”

“Sure.”

Another minute of silence passed. 

“Will you hold me until I fall asleep?”

Rhett pressed his lips to Link’s forehead. “Of course.”

“One more thing.”

Rhett’s eyes flicked to his. Link could live in those green pools. “Kids. You’re a … I mean, you will be … a great father. You should adopt.”

Rhett smiled, and those pink cheeks Link adored puffed up. “Yeah. Maybe.”

“Seriously. You’re a good dad.”

Rhett pulled Link in and gave him a long, chaste kiss on closed lips. “Thank you,” he whispered, his beard tickling Link’s chin.

Link turned on his side and let Rhett curl his body around him, his breath hot on his neck. He was huge and warm and soft and everything Link needed. 

He closed his eyes, and for the last few moments he had in that world, let himself believe that it was his Rhett’s arms he was falling asleep in.


	10. Chapter 10

“Daddy?”

Link opened his eyes and looked up into his daughter’s face. He was on the couch again. He shivered. The house was cold.

“Morning, Lily,” he said, sitting up and making room for her on the couch. She sat down next to him. Her posture was stiff.

“What’s wrong, sweetheart?” he asked.

“Are you and mom getting a divorce?”

Lily’s eyes were wide and sad. Her brows knit together as she held back the tears lurking beneath the surface. Once Link’s spitting image, Lily was now a teenager, and despite her girlish pajamas, she was beginning to resemble the woman she was going to become. Her face was thinning, and her emerging cheekbones made her look more like Christy than she ever had.

Christy. Oh, god, Christy. 

“Baby girl,” Link said, pulling his daughter to him, letting her rest her head on his shoulder. 

“I heard mom crying last night when she went to bed.” Her voice hitched. “And you …”

Link kissed the top of Lily’s head, caressing the hair that was the same golden color as Christy’s. “I know, sweetheart. I know.”

Lily choked on a sob. “So are you?”

“I don’t know, baby girl.” Breaking his daughter’s heart was almost worse than what he was doing to Christy. “Things are complicated.”

“I don’t want you to leave us, Daddy.”

“That will not happen, Lillian,” Link said, his voice stern. He remember his own childhood, with no stable father figure and step-families moving in and out of his life, only seeing his father on weekends. He would not do that to his children.

He turned Lily so she faced him, and wiped her tears with the edge of his sleeve. “You listen to me, Lily. I love your mother. Please know that. And I love you and your brothers more than life itself.”

Lily nodded, her shoulders drooping.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen with your mom and me,” he repeated. In truth, he was quite certain about what would happen between them. It didn’t matter what happened with Rhett. What little had passed between he and Christy had changed everything. They could stay together, but nothing would be the same between them. This rift would remain, always. Even if Rhett never wanted to see Link again, Link’s marriage as he knew it was over.

But Lily needed reassurance. “Your mom and I love each other. Very much. But people change. And sometimes people can’t give each other what they need.”

Christy had always given him everything he needed. She just wasn’t Rhett. She wasn’t his soul mate, if that was even a real thing. But he did love her, and hurting her like this was killing him.

“But no matter what, Lily, I will always be your dad. I will always be in your life. Every single day. That will never change. I won’t leave you.”

Lily sniffed and then leapt into Link’s arms, curling up in his lap. “I love you, Daddy,” she said. She was very much still his little girl, despite her age. 

“I love you, too, Lily,” he whispered into her hair. “Always.”

He held her for another minute, and then had an idea. “Hey, you wanna go for breakfast?”

“But you have work.”

Link smiled and puffed out his chest. “Hey, I’m the boss. If I want to go out for breakfast with my best girl and my two strapping young sons, I can. Go wake up your brothers. But be quiet. Don’t wake up your mom. Let her sleep.”

Lily kissed Link on the cheek and dashed upstairs. Link went to the kitchen and wrote a note to Christy on the whiteboard on the fridge, letting her know where they were going. Then he headed upstairs to wash up. 

When they were ready, Lily, Lincoln, and Lando piled into the minivan. Just before leaving, Link sent Rhett a text. 

_ Taking the kids out for breakfast. Can you drive yourself today? _

A reply chimed as Link stopped at the end of the driveway.

_ Yeah. Be in later?” _

He texted back that he would, and then tossed on the phone on the center console before driving away.

He took the kids to a diner they liked. The wait staff was always nice to the kids and they served pancakes with chocolate chips and peanut butter sauce that Link loved. 

All three kids were in high spirits, excited about getting to spend a weekday morning with Daddy. They all giggled as Link made goofy faces at them or talked to the waitress in a silly accent. Lily’s worries seemed to melt away. Lando laughed the hardest, even though he had initially been grumpy about having to get out of bed, and Lincoln almost spit milk out his nose when Link pretended to be an alien who had never seen pancakes before, using a pair of straws for antenna. 

Link felt light again, for the first time in ages. 

He dropped them off at home with satisfied bellies and full hearts. He hugged each one tight as they headed back into the house. Lily went in last. 

“Hey, Lil?” he called, just before she crossed the doorway. 

“Yeah?” she asked, turning around, looking more like her mother than ever.

“Don’t …” Link hesitated. He didn’t want to ruin what had been a perfect morning. “Don’t say anything to your brothers, okay? I don’t want them to worry.”

Lily gave him a half-smile. “I won’t.”

“Love you, Lily girl.”

“Love you, Dad.”

And with that, she ducked into the house.

Rhett was hunched over his laptop, typing furiously, when Link strolled into the office. 

“Morning, Rhett.” There was a formal quality to his tone that he never used around Rhett. With Rhett, he could always be himself, whether he was feeling happy or giddy or blue. But now he felt guarded, putting up walls around himself. He didn’t want Rhett on the outside of those walls. But for now, he would have to wait until Rhett was ready to knock on the door himself.

“Hey, man,” Rhett said. He didn’t look up from the computer. 

Link threw his coat over the back of his chair. “Whatcha workin’ on?” he asked, trying to sound casual.

Rhett typed a few more words before answering. “Lyrics.”

“Want me to look at it?” Normally, Link would just walk over and lean over Rhett, letting his head rest on Rhett’s shoulder or the top of his head while he read his screen. Now, he asked permission.

But Rhett shook his head. “Not yet. It’s not ready. Might record it later today.”

That was how they normally worked. For songs, anyway. One of them would write something and then record a demo for the other. Then they’d work together to make it into something that belonged to them both.

Still, it hurt that Rhett didn’t want him to see it.

“Cool. Let me know if you want me to listen.”

If. Not when. If.

Rhett didn’t reply, just went back to typing. Link settled in. He checked his email and went over the filming schedule. They would start filming again the next day. But he didn’t know if he and Rhett were ready. A huge part of the magic of GMM was their chemistry together, their friendship. They could talk about almost anything, but it was their laughter, their shared bond, that kept the viewers returning. 

But what would happen when the cameras turned on to film two men who could barely have a conversation behind closed doors? Were they good enough at their job to pretend? 

Link shook his head. In truth, their continued success on the internet was secondary to the future of their relationship, in whatever form it took. No matter what form it took.

“Rhett?”

“Yeah?”

Rhett didn’t look up.

“Listen, man, can you stop for a couple of minutes?”

Rhett sighed, then shut his laptop. He turned in his chair and crossed his arms. “What’s up?”

He was trying so hard to be casual, Link thought. But the air between them was thick.

Link took a deep breath. “I need you to just hear me out for a minute, okay? Let me get this out. Don’t interrupt. Can you do that for me? Please?”

Rhett furrowed his brow, but nodded.

“Promise?” Link asked.

“Yeah. Promise.” Rhett’s voice was soft and unsure.

Link wheeled his chair closer to Rhett’s. “All right. Listen. This thing you experienced? It’s not a delusion. It’s real.”

Link saw all the muscles in Rhett’s face tense up. But he kept his promise.

Link continued. “I know it’s real, because I saw it. The day you came home from the hospital. I went out hiking. I went to that waterfall. And I saw them. The other me, and the other you. And I found my way there, just like you did. And I was …”

Rhett exhaled, and closed his eyes, but only for a moment. Link waited until he opened his eyes again.

“I was with him. The other you. Like, WITH him. You know?”

He waited for a response from Rhett. Even just a nod. But Rhett said nothing.

“I didn’t mean for it to happen. But it did. And I somehow got there again last night. And I talked to you. The other you. And I realized that I… well, that’s not the point. The point is that what you saw was real. That other world? It’s real. You went there. You’re not crazy.”

Rhett’s features all seemed to shrink, and for a moment, Link thought he was going to cry. Rhett coughed, hiding his face behind his hand, and then his face returned to normal. Still, he said nothing.

“That’s all I wanted to say to you. What you do with that information is up to you, I guess. But you need to know that you’re not losing your mind. You experienced something that most people can’t understand. But I do understand. So when you’re ready to deal with it, however you need to deal with it, I’m here. And I’m still your best friend. No matter what.”

Link reached out, wanting to hold Rhett, or let Rhett hold him, but he simply patted Rhett on the knee. He locked eyes with his friend of 30-some years, and in those green eyes, saw the depth of Rhett’s pain.

  
But he couldn’t tell Rhett what to do. Rhett had to figure out what he needed to do for himself.


	11. Chapter 11

Link stopped the car in front of Rhett’s house, but only for a moment, because Rhett was already on the sidewalk waiting for him.

“Filming today,” Link said. “You ready to get back behind the desk?”

Rhett gave him a slow nod. “Yeah. It’ll be good to get back to normal.”

“First one should be fun.”

“The commercial challenge?”

“Yeah.”

It was a game where they had to improvise a commercial based on an item and a gimmick pulled out of hats. They had played it before, and Link had thought it would be good to start with it, since commercials were something they both loved doing. It was in their comfort zone. And hopefully they would make each other laugh enough to distract them from anything else going on.

Rhett wrinkled his nose. “Yeah, I saw that was first. I don’t know. It thought it might be easier to do something simpler. A list episode or something, you know?”

Link shrugged. “I see your point. I just thought the commercial one had a lot more comedy potential. It would get us back to a good, positive place quicker. But we can do whatever makes you feel comfortable.”

“No, it’s okay,” Rhett said. “We can do the commercial episode first, if that’s what you think is best. I trust you.”

Link almost missed a red light when he heard those words. Just days ago, he thought he might have lost Rhett for good. But if he was willing to put his trust back in Link, in their friendship, then maybe, just maybe …

The light turned green, and Link returned his focus to the road. He wouldn’t let himself hope. It might just mean that things were returning to normal. Before all of this. 

And that might have to be enough. 

Link made sure they both had an extra cup of coffee that morning. He wanted Rhett full of energy. Hyped on too much caffeine would be fine. He’d be funny and much more likely to be impulsive. He played some of Rhett’s favorite songs in the dressing room as they got ready. 

But he could tell that even the crew was a little nervous. They were quieter on set than normal as the two men took their seats behind the desk. Stevie went over a few last minute notes with everyone, and before Link knew it, the cameras were rolling.

From the moment he opened his mouth, Link knew that he was the one who was over the top. He was so nervous about Rhett that overacted completely in the intro. He did his best to relax himself as they paused before continuing. 

“You can do this,” he whispered to himself. 

He was up first, filming a completely nonsensical commercial featuring himself in a bloody shirt and a fake plant. He could barely focus enough to think, so going completely off the wall and not making sense seemed like his best bet. 

Rhett didn’t laugh. But Link knew the awkwardness of it all would be funny in the end.

The challenge was supposed to be random, at least as far as the fans knew, but in these types of episodes, they sometimes engineered something in order to make a specific joke. Link normally wasn’t a huge fan of that, because it felt too much like lying to the audience, but on that day, he make an exception. He wanted Rhett to get a challenge that would play to his strengths, so he had the crew put just one slip of paper in the basket, and that slip of paper said “beans.”

Rhett had to sing about beans.

Rhett smiled as he read the word, and Link’s heart soared to see that natural smile return to his friend’s face. That was why he’d wanted to do this episode first. He knew he could make that smile that had been absent reemerge. 

And even though it was unpracticed and a little off-key, it was good to hear Rhett sing again. 

Link didn’t think about what he was doing when he took the bowl of beans from Rhett and took a mouthful. It wasn't until he heard Rhett’s small “oh” that he realized putting his mouth where Rhett’s had just been gave an air of intimacy he wasn't sure they had and definitely wasn’t sure that Rhett wanted. 

There was no time to think about it, though, because it was Link’s turn again. They’d put all the slips of paper back in the hats, so it would be truly random again. He pulled a slip and read it. 

“Sex appeal keeps eyes glued to your product.”

He heard Rhett’s “oh god” as he read it, and he sensed the hitch in Rhett’s breathing. He could barely think as he pulled the other slip. Sexy for the purposes of this show and sexy in the way he wanted to be for Rhett were so very different. And his mind could only go for the wrong places.

He went to the props and costumes and put on a dress and a wig, hoping to look as stupid as humanly possible. In front of the camera, he tried to be everything Rhett would not find appealing. He spoke in a high-pitched, ditzy voice and posed in such a way as to look as ridiculous as possible. And he hoped to hell it was funny, because the audience was important, too.

But when he finished and looked to Rhett, he saw a look there he hadn’t expected. He didn’t want to read into it, but then Rhett said “wow” and looked down. Link knew that look. That was Rhett’s turned-on-and-trying-to-hide-it look.

“Come on back over here, baby,” Rhett said.

Rhett calling him baby melted Link into a puddle. He’d wanted so badly to get some sign that Rhett felt about him the way he felt about Rhett. But not this way. Not while filming and not when he didn’t know if it was real or just Rhett putting on an act for the cameras. 

But after some banter, Rhett looked in the monitor and say they looked like a happy couple, stumbling over the word couple. Maybe he realized what he was saying and tried to stop himself. And before moving on, Rhett told him “Great job. It was very, very sexy.”

Link could barely watch Rhett’s next segment. He was too stuck on wondering if Rhett really thought he was sexy or that they looked like a couple. And if he did, what did it mean? Did either of them have the guts to risk everything for each other?

But he did watch the end of Rhett’s commercial and ending up laughing and then played off it for his own. By the time they finished, things were feeling normal again. Laughter was abundant.

Yes. This was the normalcy he’d hoped to achieve. If only he could stop thinking about Rhett calling him baby.

“That went really well,” Rhett said as they changed before filming again. “I’m glad we did that one.”

“Yeah, man. Your beans song was awesome.”

“You think? I mean, there was that glitch with the music …

Link clapped a hand on Rhett’s shoulder. “You rolled with it. It’s funnier when things don’t go right sometimes.”

“So you don’t think …”

But Rhett stopped. He pulled his cactus sweatshirt on over his head. 

“What, Rhett?”

“Nevermind. You ready?”

Link nodded and they headed back out to the set.

They filmed another episode before lunch, when the men retreated to their office. 

“You want to get lunch?” Rhett asked. “I’m pretty hungry.”

“Isn’t Jessie feeding you?”

Link regretted the joke as soon as it left his lips. Rhett frowned, his lips curling inward. Link pretended he hadn’t said it. “What are you in the mood for?”

“Tacos?”

Link nodded and got his keys out. Link drove them out to a little Mexican place Rhett loved. But their conversation was stilted as they sat side by side, waiting for their orders. Link couldn’t even ask “how are you doing?” because that opened up a world of questions he didn’t know if Rhett was ready to answer.

So he asked about the kids, and Rhett talked about Locke’s swim meets and the weird things Shepherd had said over breakfast. They talked about getting Lincoln and Locke together to see a movie they were both interested in. 

It didn’t take long to run out of comfortable topics. They ate quickly and got back to the studio. They handled a phone conference with a potential sponsor and went over a merchandising proposal. Soon, it was time to leave for the night.

On the ride home, they talked a little about the filming schedule for the next day, going over some ideas Rhett had while looking over the episode plans. At least they were talking again. 

As Rhett got out of the car, Link hoped Rhett would turn around and say something, anything, about this thing that laid between them. It was creating a distance Link couldn’t stand. He so badly wanted to hear Rhett call him “baby” in private, but even just being able to talk to Rhett like he used to would be something.

But Rhett shut the door and walked slowly to his door. He turned and waved before entering, and Link waved back, a sad feeling of dread overcoming him.

They had been able to fake normal, but nothing was normal, and nothing was right. Not at home with Christy, and not at work with Rhett.

He drove home and went immediately to the bedroom, where he started to fill a duffle bag with clothing and toiletries.

“So that’s it then?"

He looked up to find Christy in the doorway. He sat down on the bed and looked to her. “I don’t know.”

She sniffled, but didn’t cry. Link patted the bed, and Christy took a seat next to him. 

“This is what you want?”

Link shook his head. “No. Not really. I mean … I don’t want to hurt you. I don’t want to walk away from you. But we can’t live like this, can we?”

Christy didn’t respond, only took a deep breath and folded her hands on her lap.

Link continued. “It’s just that … I know I can’t give you want you need right now. And me being here is hurting you.”

“Is this what you both want? You and Rhett?”

Link exhaled in a sad laugh. “I don’t know what he wants. He’s barely talking to me.” Link’s tears traced a silent path down his face. 

“Oh, Link.” Christy put her head on Link’s shoulder. “My dear Link. You cannot always be torn in two.”

“What?”

“It’s from Lord of the Rings. Frodo says it to Sam before he leaves Middle Earth.”

Link knew that. He knew the line. He had cried hard at that scene. Sam couldn’t bear to be away from Frodo, his best friend, his other half. And that had struck Link entirely too close to home, even back then, when there was no threat to he and Rhett’s friendship.

“What are you saying, Christy?”

She took his hand and held it on her lap. “Just that I can’t ask you to stay. I could ask you, and you would stay, but your heart wouldn’t be here. It wouldn’t be with me. I would be asking you to rip your soul in two.”

Link nodded and squeezed his eyes shut, as more tears poured forth. 

“So if you need to go,” she continued, “you should go. Figure out what it is that you want. And if you want to come back, I’ll be here. It’ll be a hell of a lot of work, but I’ll be here to pick up the pieces with you.”

She sighed, the breath stuttering in her lungs. “And if you decide … to go to …” 

She started to cry, and Link threw an arm around her shoulders. “If you decide to go to him … then I’ll … I’ll let you go.” 

They cried in each other’s arms for a long time. When Link left, he promised to text her what hotel he was at, and she promised to tell the kids that he had a last minute business trip.

He checked into a cheap motel, paying cash, and texted Christy the address. She didn’t reply. He didn’t expect her to.

It was early, but the day had been exhausting, and Link fell asleep on top of the floral comforter fully dressed. He woke to a pounding knock at the door. 

He fumbled on the nightstand for his glasses, rubbing his eyes before putting them on and walking to the door. He glanced at the clock. It was after 2:00 in the morning.

  
He opened the door. Standing there in the dark shadows of the night was a broken, tear-stained Rhett.


	12. Chapter 12

The two men stood on opposite sides of the doorway, eyes locked.

“How did you find me?”

“I went to your house.”

“In the middle of the night?”

Rhett looked down, ashamed. “Christy wasn’t happy. But she told me where you were.”

“She did?” That surprised Link. Letting him go was one thing, but helping Rhett find him was something else.

“I had to beg.”

“Could’ve just texted me.”

Rhett stuck his hands in the front pocket of his hoodie. “I thought you’d be more likely to talk to me if I just showed up. Plus, you sleep like the dead.”

Link looked at his shoes, hiding his crooked half smile. 

Rhett shivered. “Can I come in? It’s freezing out here.”

Link hesitated. He wanted to talk to Rhett. Desperately. But he was so tired. He wasn’t sure he was in the right state of mind for it. But he looked up into Rhett’s eyes, and when he was the depth of Rhett’s sadness, he couldn’t say no.

“Yeah. Come in.”

Rhett stepped over the threshold, and Link shut the door behind him. Rhett sat down on the edge of one of the two double beds. Link stood, waiting. 

“Will you sit?”

Link moved to the bed, sitting down on the corner opposite Rhett, facing the wall. Rhett turned his body toward Link, swinging one long leg up on the bed.

“We should talk,” Rhett said. 

Link nodded, still not looking at Rhett. “I’ve already told you what I had to say. I think it’s your turn.”

Rhett swallowed hard. “Jessie kicked me out.”

In any other situation, if Jessie had kicked Rhett out, Link would be ready to swoop in and give Rhett anything he needed. Because that’s what friends do. But this was different. Link had chosen to walk away. He needed Rhett to choose him, too.

His voice was harsh. “Listen, if you’re only here because you had nowhere else to go …”

Rhett reached out, placing a hand on Link’s arm. “No, please, that’s not it. Link … look at me.”

Link turned his head. For the first time, he saw the red outline of a handprint on Rhett’s cheek.

“She kicked me out because she heard me working on this.” Rhett pulled his phone from his pocket. “It’s not perfect, but it’s what I need to say. Just listen. Please.”

He opened an app and pressed the play button. He laid on the phone down in the space between them. Link heard the haunting sounds of a guitar. Rhett’s guitar. It was a slow country tune in a minor key. It sounded old, like classic country music should, and it took him back to the expansive fields and open roads of his North Carolina childhood, back when he and Rhett were wild and carefree.

In the audio, he heard Rhett inhale and then begin to sing, his voice quavering with imminent tears.

 

_ Remember back when we were young, _

_ Before this life had yet begun, _

_ We ran and jumped and laughed and played, _

_ Never hid our love down in the shade. _

 

_ But children grow and others scorn, _

_ Our distance grew just like a thorne. _

_ I yearned for your love every night, _

_ Fought my desire by each day’s light. _

 

_ And out there by the farmer’s pond _

_ By blood we swore to hold this bond. _

_ But I yearn to hold you closer still _

_ Then this oath might be fulfilled. _

 

_ I gave you a star, and I’ll you my heart, _

_ Even if we are worlds apart. _

_ You’re everything I’ll ever need. _

_ To you, my heart I will concede. _

 

_ My friend, my brother, my never lover, _

_ Hold me now, I can’t recover. _

_ I beg now to my God above, _

_ Give me my Link, my only love. _

 

As he sang the final lines, Link could hear Rhett’s voice shudder as his tears began to fall. The final chord sounded, and the recording clicked off.

Rhett sat across from him, looking down at the bed. Link moved, closing the space between them, and tipped Rhett’s chin up with one finger. In Rhett’s eyes, he saw the doubt and the insecurity and the fear. A single tear streaked down Rhett’s face.

Link lifted a finger and wiped it away. “Don’t cry, bo. I’m not running away. Not this time.”

“It’s not that.”

The space between Link’s eyes creased. “Tell me.”

“I just wish … I wish I’d been brave enough to say it all sooner.”

“When did you know?”

Rhett ran both of his hands through his hair and folded his arms so his elbows blocked his face. “God, I don’t know. Maybe I always knew.” He dropped his hands to his lap.

“Like when we were kids?”

Rhett shook his head. “It was different then. We were just kids. We didn’t know anything. But yeah, I mean, in a way, maybe I did. I knew that whenever I was with anybody else, I wanted to be with you instead.”

“Yeah,” Link replied, swallowing a lump in his throat. “Me too.”

“And I mean, who swears a blood oath and keeps it? Have you ever really thought about that?”

“Pretty weird, I guess.” Link could still remember that day with more clarity than almost anything else in his life. The air had been hot and humid, and the sun beat down hard on them. He’d known that cutting himself was a terrible idea, and that he’d more than likely pass out. But he’d done it anyway, because it was for Rhett. For them. And when he’d nearly fainted, Rhett had caught him and lowered him to the ground until he was better. In front of others, he would certainly have busted Link’s balls about it. But in private, when it was just the two of them, Rhett was gentle and kind and made sure Link was safe.

He was always safe with Rhett.

“But you know when I think I really knew?”

“When?”

Rhett closed his eyes and shook his head. “You know, I’ve told this story I don’t know how many times. But I never tell the whole thing.”

“What story?”

“The time back in college. When I did the ‘I’m dead’ move on you and the door was open.”

Link tilted his head, confused. They’d been getting for bed, and he had said something stupid that pissed Rhett off; he couldn’t remember what it was anymore. Rhett had pinned him on the lower bunk, laying on his back, both of them in just their boxers. Someone had walked passed and seen them, but Rhett hadn’t moved.

“How …?”

“Do you know why I didn’t move?”

“Because you were mad at me and didn’t want to let me up.”

Rhett chuckled. “No, man. It was because when I was laying there on you, for just a second, it felt … right. And I wanted to …”

“You wanted to what?”

Rhett bit his lip. “Use your imagination.”

Link did, and he blushed. 

“I didn’t move because for just a second, nothing about it was weird, and I almost wanted somebody to see. Because maybe if they did, if somebody saw, maybe they wouldn’t think it was such an awful thing. And then maybe …”

He paused, and just shook his head. “But that thought only lasted a second. You started yelling at me to get off, and I did. And the moment was gone. I pushed it aside. Chalked it up to hormones or whatever. And I guess I forgot about it. Or at least I didn’t let myself think about it.”

Link couldn’t believe it. College was half a lifetime ago. Rhett had felt this way all along? But had he, too

“What about you?”

Link couldn’t think. “I don’t know. I mean, maybe just as long as you. But I don’t know. I can’t remember ever being conscious of it. But you know my dad. If I’d ever had a thought like that, he’d have sent me straight to military school or something. So even if I did know, I wouldn’t have let myself think it.” He sighed. “But maybe, maybe this past winter. I might have known then.”

“Up in the cabin?”

Link nodded. “Why did you do it? Why did you kiss me that day?”

Rhett took Link’s hands in his. “It was the first time in my life I thought I was losing you. I know you were just frustrated with the project, but you’d never talked like that before. You’d never lost hope in us and what we’re capable of. I didn’t think you were walking away from the project. I thought you were walking away from me.”

“Oh hell, Rhett. I would never walk away from you.”

“But you did,” he said in a whisper. “That day outside our tent.”

Link hung his head in shame. “I’m so sorry, Rhett. I should have listened to you. I never should have sent you to that hospital. I should have believed you. Can you forgive me?”

Rhett leaned in and cupped Link’s face. “I already have, you big idiot. I wouldn’t be here, otherwise.”

“But it still hurts, doesn’t it?”

Rhett nodded. “I can’t really blame you. How could you believe something so crazy?”

“I do now.”

An awkward silence passed as Link remembered his time with the other Rhett. He shifted as he felt his jeans become uncomfortably tight.

Rhett didn’t seem to notice. “So you found your way there?”

Link nodded. “I just wanted proof that it was real. I wanted to believe you so bad, but I just couldn’t wrap my brain around it. So I hiked back out there, and …”

Rhett smirked. “And you got busy with me?”

Link elbowed Rhett in the ribs. “It wasn’t like that! And it wasn’t you. It was the other you. He was trying to put his life back together, just like you were. And since I couldn’t be there for you, I was there for him. I told him the things I couldn’t tell you.”

Rhett had a glint in his eye. “And how was I?”

Link closed his eyes and bit his lip. “Jesus, Rhett. Don’t make me talk about it.”

“Aw, come on, man!” 

Link rolled his eyes. “It was … different, okay? Good different, but different.”

“Really good?” Rhett’s voice went low and raspy. 

Link felt himself twitch. “Really good. Probably …” He hesitated. “Probably the best I’ve ever had.”

Rhett licked his lips. “Was it just that one time?”

Link nodded. “I went back again. Just one other time. But you, I mean, the other you, he knew it was me that time. I mean, he knew it was the other me. I mean, this me.” Link made a face as he struggled to find the right words.

Rhett lightly touched Link’s hand. “I get what you mean. What happened?”

Link shrugged. “We just talked.

“That’s it?”

Link smiled. “We might have spooned a little.”

“I’m kinda jealous of me right now.”

“Well, you had your own little adventures, didn’t you? But you haven’t told me anything about them. How was I?” Link gave Rhett a sultry wink.

“Oh, damn, baby,” Rhett murmured. Link shivered as he heard those words he’d so longed for. Rhett dragged his thumb across Link’s bottom lip. “Do you have any idea what this mouth of yours is capable of?”

Link exhaled and let his head roll back and Rhett ran his hand down Link’s chin and around to the back of his neck. 

Rhett pulled him in closer until there was nothing but the distance of a breath between them. “I want to kiss you, Link.”

Link nodded. But neither man made the first move.

“Why is this so weird?” Link asked. “We’ve done it before.”

“You mean through a piece of plexiglass?”

Link remembered the episode when they’d sung a news story and ended with jailed Link kissing his wife Rhett through the glass. Link had been visibly flustered afterward, ostensibly because of how awkward it had been. But looking back, Link wondered if his reaction had really been because some part of him had enjoyed it and had wanted more.

But that hadn’t been what he’d meant. 

“No, I mean … we’ve been with each other already.”

“Well, you’ve been with the other me, and I’ve been with the other you.”

“But not me with you. Not us.”

Rhett tightened his grip on Link’s neck. “So … can I kiss you?”

Link nodded. His hands shook as he placed them on Rhett’s chest, feeling his heart beating so fast it seemed like it might burst. Rhett pulled him in, and for the first time, their lips met.

Their lips touched only lightly at first, savoring the new sensation, lingering languidly in the space between a touch and a kiss. Link moved his hands slowly upward until he found Rhett’s beard with his fingertips. His Rhett was keeping his beard more tightly trimmed than the other Rhett had, and he could feel more of Rhett’s warm skin. 

Link gently pulled Rhett closer and opened his lips. Rhett’s tongue traced around the line of his mouth before Link’s tongue met his. They danced around each other, tasting the years they’d wasted and the decades of pent-up desire.

Rhett moved his hands to Link’s waist and pulled the smaller man into his lap. Link felt his hands on the bare skin of his lower back. His body was on fire, and he could feel Rhett’s desire pressing against him. It was everything he wanted, everything he needed. He wanted to feel Rhett’s bare skin against his own. He wanted to taste Rhett’s sweat when he kissed his chest. He wanted to feel the burn of Rhett’s beard against the soft skin of his inner thighs. He wanted all of it.

He pushed lightly on Rhett’s shoulders and separated their lips. “Rhett, wait.”

Rhett pulled Link in tighter, pressing their hips even closer. “Link, don’t make me wait any longer. I don’t know if I can.”

“Just listen, please.” He pressed his lips to Rhett’s forehead before speaking. “I just want us to make sure this is what we both want. Because once we cross this line, I don’t think there’s any going back.”

“I know what I want,” Rhett growled. “And he’s right here.” He kissed Link again, but Link pushed him away.

“I know,” Link said. “I want that, too. I do. But … we’re risking a lot here. I don’t want either of us to dive into this without thinking it through. We’re both walking away from wives and families, and I know neither of us is going to abandon our kids, but it is going to change everything for them. We can’t make this decision lightly.”

Link moved backward just enough so that he wasn’t pressed directly into Rhett. He could barely think straight, knowing how much they both wanted this.

Rhett nodded. “I’m not taking this lightly. I promise. This isn’t just some whim of mine. It’s not like paddleboarding or something. It’s you. And I’ve been here for over thirty years now. There’s no way I’m walking away from you. Ever.”

Link leaned forward, letting their foreheads touch. “I know. I just … I already made my decision to leave my life as I know it behind. I just need to know that you’re there with me. Because I can’t …”

He felt the tears in the back of his throat, and as much as he tried to fight them, he couldn’t. Rhett gently took his glasses and laid them down on the bed before kissing away each tear that made its way down Link’s face.

“You can’t what, bo?”

Link sniffled. “I can’t survive you breaking my heart. So before I give it to you, I need to know that you’re in this as deep as I am. That you won’t …”

“I won’t.” He took Link’s face in his hands, forcing him to stare into his eyes. “I’ll swear it to you in blood right here, right now, if you want me to. I love you, Link Neal.”

Link’s heart soared. They’d both said it before, but it had meant something different then. It had been a promise of friendship and brotherhood. Now it took on a new meaning, bringing a new layer to this life they shared. 

“I love you, too, Rhett McLaughlin.”

They kissed again, slowly this time, without the rush of pure desire. This kiss was a pledge of love.

When they came up for air, Link looked to the clock. It was beyond late, and he was exhausted, physically and emotionally.

“Rhett?”

“Yeah?”

“We have to work in the morning.” 

Rhett’s eyes went to the clock as well. “You want to sleep, don’t you.”

Link nodded. “I do. I mean, god, there’s a million other things I want to do, too, but … I don’t want our first time together to be in this shitty motel. I want it to be special.”

Rhett smiled. “You always were the sentimental one.”

Link said nothing, but begged for Rhett’s approval with his eyes. 

“This weekend,” Rhett said, holding Link close. “We’ll go somewhere special. We can survive a couple of nights, right?”

Link wasn’t sure he could wait, but he knew it would be all that much better if he did. 

“But you’ll stay here with me?” He nodded towards the double bed. It was impossibly small for two men, especially when one of them was Rhett’s size. But neither man could stand the idea of being separated. 

“Of course,” Rhett said, kissing Link’s cheek.

They stripped to their underwear and climbed under the blankets. When they’d shared hotel beds as business partners and friends, it was always Link who somehow ended up spooning Rhett by morning. But when they crawled in together as lovers, it was Rhett who curled protectively around Link, his strong arms holding him tight to his bare chest. 

  
As he fell asleep, Link noticed the change. His breath and his heart both fell into a slow, calm rhythm that matched Rhett’s exactly.


	13. Chapter 13

Filming was nearly impossible. Link was overtired and drunk on new love, and he couldn’t find the fine line between awkwardly funny and flirtatious. And every time Rhett’s knee bumped his under the table, he felt the heat between his legs reignite. 

It didn’t help that Rhett kept giving him that look. God, that sexy look in his eyes was killing him.

When they were finally done, they gave the crew a few notes and left the set with as much normalcy as they could, leisurely making their way back to their office.

Rhett tackled Link just as he locked the door behind him. Rhett covered his face and neck with kisses, and both of their hands explored all of the places on each other’s bodies that had previously been forbidden territory.

“Why are we waiting again?” Link asked in a breathy whisper.

Rhett nipped at Link’s ear. “Because you wanted it to be special.”

“I’m an idiot,” Link said, groaning as Rhett ran a huge hand over his ass, tugging his hips closer.

“You’re my idiot, though,” Rhett said, and gave him one more long kiss on the lips. “And we are going to wait. It’ll be worth it. I promise.”

Link closed his eyes and sighed heavily with desire, his arms up around Rhett’s neck, careful not to put all of his weight on him. He didn’t want to hurt Rhett’s back before the weekend. It was Thursday, so they would spend one more night in the awful motel. Friday, though, they would leave work early and head off to only Rhett knew where. He had promised to plan everything.

“So what are we doing tomorrow night?”

Rhett licked his lips. “Baby, I think the question is what aren’t we doing tomorrow night?”

Link was about to go in for another kiss when he felt a vibration against his thigh. It sent a series of shudders through his body, and he thought he might lose his mind if he had to wait for the next night.

“Like that, do you?” Rhett asked, raising one eyebrow. He extricated himself from Link’s arms and pulled his phone from his pocket. Link adjusted himself through his jeans and even that made him moan.

“Don’t you dare,” Rhett said in a commanding tone, before answering the phone call. “That’s mine.”

Rhett bossing him around should have made him angry, but it just turned him on further. 

Link sat down at his computer to answer some emails, hoping he could distract himself from the ever-growing desire in his pants. 

“Locke?” 

It must have been Rhett’s son on the phone.

“Locke, slow down. Slow … I can’t understand you when you’re yelling, Locke!” Rhett’s voice got louder as he continued.

“Calm down. Just … will you please calm down?”

Link looked up. Rhett stood with his hip cocked, one hand on his forehead in exasperation. “Locke, stop.”

Rhett signaled to Link that he would be back. He left the office, presumably to go outside or perhaps to the dressing room, so he could talk to Locke in private. 

Link watched him leave with concern in his eyes. Rhett had looked worried as he tried to calm his son. But he had to let Rhett handle things on his own, so he turned back to his computer.

He found himself completely unable to concentrate on work. He couldn’t stop thinking about the weekend, wondering what Rhett had in mind. And since that was all he could think about, he started searching the internet for some ideas of his own. Rhett was in charge of where they were going, but that didn’t mean Link couldn’t have a few surprises up his own sleeve. And the internet was full of ideas. 

When Rhett came back in the office, Link shut his laptop quickly so Rhett wouldn’t see his screen. He didn’t want to spoil anything. But as soon as he saw Rhett’s face, those thoughts dissolved.

“What’s wrong?”

Rhett flopped down on the couch, his long limbs spreading out beneath him. “Locke. He’s furious. He asked Jessie where I was, and she told him.”

Link’s eyes were huge. “Told him what?”

Rhett’s eyes, red and wet, looked up at him. His voice was matter of fact. “She told him that I am a cheating sleazebag and that you are the whore who stole me away.”

“Jesus.”

Link sak down next to Rhett, afraid to touch him. 

“This isn’t what I wanted. I didn’t want to hurt them. I’ve never heard Locke so angry.”

Link folded his hands in his lap. There was nothing he could say to make it better.

“Do your kids know?”

“No. Not really.” Link sighed heavily. “Lily knows, sort of. She heard Christy crying and found me on the couch. So she knows Christy and I are splitting, but I didn’t tell her why. Not yet. I told her not to tell her brothers yet.”

“And she’s okay?”

Link shrugged. “She took it surprisingly well. She’s sad, but I think she’ll be all right.”

“She always has been kind of an old soul.”

“Yeah.” Link’s first born, his beautiful daughter, was the most caring, empathetic person he knew, except for maybe his wife. 

“And Christy didn’t tell the boys anything?”

“I don’t think so.”

Rhett held his head in his hands. “Why did Christy take it so well?”

Link let out a sad laugh. “No, man, it’s not like that. She took it differently. They’re both grieving in their own way. Christy is holding it all inside, crying and wallowing in private. But that’s not taking it well. Jessie’s way might even be healthier.”

“I think I should go home and talk to him,” Rhett said. “I don’t know if it will help, but I should be the one to tell him the truth. I hate that I didn’t do that.”

Link thought of his own sons. “You don’t think he talked to Lincoln, do you?”

“Oh hell, I hope not.” 

Both men jumped up and headed to the car. Rhett texted Stevie that they were cutting out early while Link started the care. They had driven together, leaving Rhett’s car at the motel.

They agreed that Link should drop Rhett off and come back when Rhett texted him. It wasn’t fair to Jessie for Link, the homewrecker, to linger around her house.

But when Link pulled up to the house, Jessie was waiting on the porch. She stormed to the sidewalk as soon as she saw the car. Rhett scrambled out to head her off, but there was no stopping her.

“Don’t you dare step onto my property, Link fucking Neal. You aren’t welcome here.” Her face was red with fury.

Link sat in the car, staring forward. He wanted to drive away, but he couldn’t. He couldn’t leave Rhett alone with her. Not when she was like that.

Rhett came face to face with her, towering a full foot and a half above her. “Don’t, Jessie. This isn’t his fault.”

“Really? Because last time I checked, he’s the one you’re screwing.” 

“It’s not his fault, Jessie!” Rhett was yelling full force now, his voice shaking the car windows. “He didn’t do this. I did this. We did this. He and I. Together.”

“If it’s your fault, then you get inside this house and explain yourself to your son.”

Link watched with a surreal sense of admiration for Jessie. She was standing up to a lion like a mouse who didn’t know she wasn’t a lion. Link cowered when Rhett was angry, and nearly always gave in. 

Not Jessie. She stood up to him, taking the full brunt of his anger, never backing down.

“Daddy?”

Shepherd, Rhett’s youngest son, his hair a halo of blonde curls, stood in the yard. None of them had seen him coming.

Rhett saw the confusion in his son’s eyes and ran over and scooped him up as if he weighed nothing at all. He cradled Shepherd’s head, his hand practically covering it entirely. 

“Daddy, why are you leaving?”

Rhett knelt and placed Shepherd on the ground, holding the small boy’s hands in his own. “Son, I’m not leaving you.”

“So you’re still going to live here?”

Rhett ducked his head for a moment, taking a deep breath before he could choke out the next words. “No, honey. I’m not going to live here.”

“Why?”

Rhett hesitated. “Because …”

“Are you and Mommy getting a divorce?”

Rhett nodded his head. “Yeah. I think we probably are.”

“My friend Matthew’s parents are divorced. He never sees his dad, except on holidays.”

Rhett hugged Shepherd tight. “It won’t be that way. I won’t move far away. I’ll see you all the time. We’ll still be a family. That won’t change.”

“Okay.”

Rhett’s head bolted up. “O- … okay?”

Even Jessie was tongue-tied. But Shepherd had always been a little unusual. If Lily was an old soul, then Shepherd was a brand new soul, not yet damaged by the world. He took everything in stride. 

Locke, on the other hand, was just as hot-tempered as both his mother and his father, and that temper came out in full flame when he heard the commotion in the yard.

“It’s not okay,” he said, storming out from the house. “It’s not okay, and you know it,” he said, pointing an accusatory finger at his father. 

“Locke,” Rhett began, his voice taking on a calm, paternal tone. “Please just let me explain.”

“Explain what? That you don’t love us enough to stay? That you’ve been living in sin with … with him?”

Locke spit on the ground as he looked to Link with steely eyes. They were Rhett’s eyes, and Link had to look away to hide his shame.

“Locke, please. I do love you. Of course I love you. I’m not leaving you.”

“You are leaving! You’re doing it right now!”

Rhett reached out, but Locked shook his shoulder out from under his father’s touch. 

“I’m not leaving you, Locke! I’m not leaving my family.”

Link’s heart sunk. For a moment, he thought Rhett was turning his back on him. 

“People get divorced, Locke. Every day. And some of those fathers are shit bags who walk away and never see their kids again. That will never be me, do you understand?”

Locke looked up at his father defiantly, despite the tears in his eyes.

“Do you understand, Locke?” Rhett boomed. 

The tears fell, and Locke fell to the ground. Rhett joined him there and swept his arms around his son, rocking him gently. Tall like his father, Locke looked every bit a young man, but he was just a boy. A hurt and confused boy.

“I’ll never leave you, Locke. Never.” Rhett kissed his son’s hair as the boy sobbed into his father’s chest. 

Link cried, too. They had raised their children together, and Locke was almost as much his son as he was Rhett’s. He hated seeing him in pain, and even more so, he hated knowing he was the cause of that pain.

He looked away until he heard Jessie send both boys inside. Rhett stood up and wiped the tears from his face. He turned to face his wife.

“Jessie, I didn’t mean for it to be like this.”

She sighed with resignation and crossed her arms, holding herself. “I know.” 

Rhett closed the space between them and put his hands gently on her elbows. “I do love you, Jessie. I always have. It’s just that …”

She nodded and finished the sentence for him. “You gave your heart to Link a long time ago. It was never mine to begin with.”

Rhett bent down and kissed her forehead. 

“How did things fall apart so quickly?” she asked, tears emerging from her eyes.

“They didn’t,” Rhett answered, holding his wife for the last time. “You said so yourself. We just never knew how rocky a foundation we built this life on.”

She squeezed Rhett, holding on as tight as she could, and then released him. “Go,” she said. “I’ll make sure the boys are okay.

“Are you sure?”

She nodded. “They’re your sons, Rhett. They’re resilient. Let me baby them for a while, and they’ll be fine. Eventually.”

“Can I go inside for a couple of minutes and pack a bag? I just need a few things.”

She nodded.

Rhett turned and walked to the house. After he was gone, Jessie leaned into the window, her eyes focused on Link.

“Don’t you dare hurt him, Link Neal,” she said. “Don’t you dare break his heart.”

Link nodded. It was her way of saying goodbye. Of letting him go. “I won’t. I promise.”

“Because if you do, I swear …”

She didn’t need to say it. She would murder him. Or worse. And he would deserve it.

“I swear, Jessie. I could never hurt him.” Not like he was hurting her. Not like he was hurting Christy. They were leaving these women who had stood by them all their lives to fend for themselves in the wake of their destruction. 

Rhett reappeared with a duffle over his shoulder. Jessie backed away and let him get into the car.

“Now get out of here before I remember how angry I am,” she said, slamming the passenger door shut.

Link turned the key in the ignition and put the car in gear. The tires squealed as he drove away as quickly as he could. But he only drove a few blocks before he pulled over and stopped.

“We don’t have to do this,” he said, not looking at Rhett. “If you need to be with your boys, we can wait. It doesn’t have to be now.”

“You’re not backing out on me, are you Neal?” Rhett’s boyish charm was back. 

“No. God, no. I just …”

“They boys will be okay. I think they need their mama right now more than they need me.”

But it pained Link to take Rhett away from his boys. They did need him. And his own boys needed him.

“Can we stop at my place?” he asked hesitantly. He needed to see his boys. There was already a chance Locke had told Lincoln. Those boys were almost as close as he and Rhett had been as kids. He needed to tell him first, if he could. As for Lando … he was still so young. Maybe young enough that it wouldn’t affect him as much.

Link only hoped that breaking the news to his boys wouldn’t break his courage to leave again.

“Should I come in?” Rhett asked as Link parked the car.

Every fiber is his being wanted Rhett at his side to be his strength if he faltered. It was a terrible idea, he knew. It wasn’t fair to Christy to rub Rhett in her face. But if she was holding onto some hope of him coming back to her, maybe it was for the best that she learned the truth now. 

Link wasn’t coming back. His heart belonged to Rhett. It always had. 

“Would you?” he answered finally. “I’ll do the talking. Just … be there for me.”

Rhett nodded, and both men exited the car and started for the house. Link found all three kids in the living room. Lily was curled up in a chair with a book, while Lincoln and Lando battled each other in some video game. 

It occurred to him that he wouldn’t get to come home to this anymore. He started to back up, but Rhett put a hand on his back. Rhett wouldn’t let him back out. He had to do this.

“Hey, guys,” he said in a wavering voice. 

Lily looked up from her book. He could tell in her eyes that she knew what he was here to say. There was a sadness there, but she nodded to him, almost in encouragement. It bolstered him.

“Lincoln, can you turn that off for a minute?”

“Hang on, Dad, we’re almost done.”

“Turn it off, Lincoln.” Any other time, he might have just unplugged the stupid thing. But he didn’t want to make his sons angry before he even told them why he was there.

“Just a sec, Dad!”

Christy must have heard them, because she came in from the kitchen. Her eyes were bright until they landed on Rhett. She backed up, holding herself up on the door frame. 

Lincoln turned off the game. Lando whined.

“This is it then, isn’t it?”

Christy’s voice was small and she seemed to shrink against the wall. It was strange how Jessie, with her impossibly tiny stature, was the seemingly strong one, while tall and statuesque Christy seemed to fall apart before his eyes.

“This is what?” Lincoln asked, looking back and forth between his parents.

“I wanted to tell the kids,” Link said.

Christy nodded. There was no need for them to talk about it themselves. She already knew everything.

“Tell us what?” Lincoln asked. He seemed to sense the tension in the room. Lily put her book down and moved to the couch, putting her arms around Lando. 

Link took a seat on the footstool so he could face his children, as much as he didn’t want to. Rhett stayed by the door, his eyes darting around the room, avoiding Christy’s gaze.

Link sighed and bowed his head. There was no easy way to start. He almost wished that Locke had already told Lincoln. They he would have to answer for himself. Telling them himself was an impossible task. It would be easier to just walk away and never look back.

But then he would be the worst kind of sleazy dirtbag whore that Jessie had accused him of being. He owed it to his family to tell them the truth.

“Listen, I’m going to be away for a little while.”

“Where are you going?” Lando asked in his high-pitched voice. 

“I don’t … I don’t know yet,” Link said. “The thing is … I’m not just going away. I’m .. that is, Mommy and I are …”

“It’s okay, Daddy,” Lily said, holding out her hand to him. She squeezed it. “We can take it.”

The feel of his daughter’s warm hand in his gave him strength. “I’m moving out,” he finally said, looking only at Lily. “I need you guys to know that this has nothing to do with you. I love you so much, and I promise, I won’t be far away. Daddy will always be here.”

Lando looked puzzled, while Lincoln just looked at the floor. 

“What about Mommy?” Lando asked. “Won’t you miss Mommy?”

He was so young. Things like divorce weren’t even on his radar yet. 

“Of course I will,” Link assured him. “It’s just that … Mommy and Daddy need to not live together anymore. But we both still love you. That will never change.”

After telling this all to Lily already, and hearing Rhett explain it to his sons, this was all beginning to sound like a broken record or a planned speech. But he meant it all the same. 

“Do you have any questions?” he asked, hoping they didn’t. He didn’t want to answer them, but he would if he had to.

Lily just squeezed his hand again, and Lando shook his head. Link knew he would have questions. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe in a year. He was just too young to process all the information coming at him.

“Why is Rhett here?”

Lincoln’s question was like a dagger. It was the one question he didn’t want to answer. Sexual orientation was, unfortunately, something they rarely discussed in their home. Because it had never affected them personally, they ignored it. Sure, they lived in liberal California, but they were from a small, redneck town where such things were scorned. It was easier to push it aside and pretend it wasn’t an issue they needed to talk about.

But now it was, wasn’t it? Link hadn’t even thought about the terms “gay” or “bisexual” in regard to his love for Rhett. He’d never looked at any other man that way, had he? So was those even the right words? How could he talk to his kids about this when he couldn’t even explain it himself?

Lily tilted her head and met his eyes. Link could see the moment when she understood. She was so wise. 

“You love him, don’t you?” she asked. There was no judgement in her voice. It was merely the truth.

Link hesitated, and looked at Christy. Tears were streaming down her face. He looked back at his children. Lincoln’s hands were shaking, just like Link’s did when he was anxious.

“I do,” he finally answered. “I do love him. I don’t expect you to understand. You can be angry. Or sad. Or whatever it is that you feel. But you deserve to know that truth. I love your Mom. But I love Rhett, too.”

Lincoln jumped up from the couch. Link expected him to run away, but he leapt into Link’s arms, threw his arms around his neck, and started to sob.

“Lincoln, what’s wrong? Talk to me, buddy.” He rubbed Lincoln’s back, trying desperately to comfort him.

After crying for a long time, Lincoln finally managed to speak. “So … is it okay?”

“Is what okay?”

It came out in a whisper. “Being gay.”

He was so blind. So, so blind. How had he not seen this thing that was eating away at his own son? Was he that caught up in his own life that he hadn’t seen this coming?”

Link pulled Lincoln from him so he could look in his eyes. “Lincoln, you are my son. I love you no matter what. No matter what you do or who you love. There’s … there’s nothing wrong with being gay. Or …whatever.” but Link didn’t have the words. There was a whole world out there he knew nothing about and he didn’t know how to talk about it.

Lincoln backed up a step and wiped his sleeve across his face. “I love you, too, Dad.”

“Do you … want to talk about it?”

Lincoln shook his head. He was still a boy, afterall. Kids his age didn’t want to talk about those things. Not with their parents, anyway. 

“Well, if you do, just let me know, okay? You can tell me anything.”

Lincoln nodded. 

“Why don’t you guys go upstairs, okay?” Christy asked. “Give Daddy a hug and a kiss.”

Link hugged each one of them, exchanging “I love yous” and holding Lincoln just a little longer than the other two. He watched as they trudged upstairs.

“Did you know?” he asked Christy. 

She shook her head. “I thought something was going on, but I didn’t know what.”

“Maybe I shouldn’t go. It’s not right, me leaving right after that. I should stay and be here for him.”

Again, Christy shook her head. “I think he needs his space right now. I think what you said was exactly what he needed from you.”

“Do you really think he is?”

Christy gave him a sad smile. “I don’t think I’m a good judge of that, do you?”

Link almost laughed, but he held it in. 

“He’s still young,” Christy said. “He might be. He might not be. But now he knows that it’s okay if he is. That’s the most important thing.

Link smiled weakly. “I guess we’ll get out of here, then.”

He found Rhett at his side, but not touching him. He wouldn’t. Not here. Not in front of Christy. She looked up at Rhett, and her eyes quickly fell back to the ground.

“I always knew part of him belonged to you,” she said. “I just didn’t think it would end like this.”

Rhett cleared his throat. “I’m sorry, Christy. We didn’t mean to …”

She held up her hand. “Don’t. Just don’t.”

Rhett shut up and took a step back. 

“Let me know if they need anything, okay? Anything at all.” Link said, taking a step back himself. In that step was the final choice to walk away. He’d made his decision, and he had chosen Rhett.

Christy nodded. “I will.”

They didn’t speak on the drive back to the motel. Link plugged in his phone and let music fill the space instead. It was done now. They were really doing this. 

In the room, Link collapsed on the bed and stared at the ceiling.

“I wish we didn’t have to hurt them to have this.”

Rhett laid down on his side, propping himself on one arm. “I know. Me too. But there’s no way around it, is there?”

“No. I guess not. I mean, part of me wishes there was a way we didn’t have to give anything up, you know? So we could have each other but not have to give up everything else, too.”

“Like … sharing?”

Link nodded. “Stupid, I know. People’s hearts don’t work that way. Well, maybe some people’s do, but mine doesn’t.”

“Neither does mine.”

They didn’t have to say that Jessie’s and Christy’s didn’t either. They weren’t jealous women, but they also wouldn’t stand for being second in line. And it wouldn’t be fair to ask them to stick around while Rhett and Link got to have it all.

There was no completely happy ending to this story. Somebody had to lose. And in a way, they were all losing. 

They laid there for a while in silence, Link watching the ceiling and Rhett watching Link, until Rhett’s stomach started to rumble.

“We should get dinner,” Link said. He pulled himself up and stood.

“Let’s get pizza.”

“Call and order one.”

Rhett raised an eyebrow.

“Fine,” Link said. “Call and order two, you hog. I’ll go pick it up.”

“We can get it delivered.”

“I know. But I could use a few minutes to breathe.”

“You’re not changing your mind on me, are you?” Rhett stood and moved toward Link.

“Never.”

Rhett put his hands on Link’s waist and kissed him, then pressed their foreheads together. “Just don’t take too long.”

“I won’t.”

  
Link headed to the car and Rhett texted him the address of the place he’d ordered from. He would do that, but first, he had an errand to run. He’d gotten a few ideas for the weekend and he needed to pick up a few things.


	14. Chapter 14

“What are you thinking about?” Rhett asked.

With bloated bellies full of greasy and delicious pizza, he and Link laid side by side on the bed, propped up by a mass of pillows. Rhett had turned on the small TV and had found a nature documentary to occupy himself. 

Link, on the other hand, was a million miles away with a million thoughts running through his mind.

“Sports,” came his automatic reply, harkening back to one of their songs.

Rhett let out a hearty laugh. “You are not,” he said, smiling. “Come on, talk to me. I can tell you’re worried about something. You’re all wrinkled right there.” He pressed a finger to the space between Link’s eyes.

Link sighed as Rhett’s finger massaged that space. The muscles in his face began to relax. 

“It’s just … this all happened so fast,” he started. “I mean, just a couple of weeks ago, everything was normal. We were just two friends running a business together. And now this.”

Rhett frowned and clicked the TV off. “Were we ever just two friends?”

Link looked at his hands. “No. I suppose not. But we were never this.”

“No, we weren’t. What’s your point?”

“Aren’t you worried that this might be just … I don’t know. I mean, would we even be here if you hadn’t gone there, to that other place? Would you ever have thought of me that way?”

Rhett gave him a closed-mouth smile. “Have you even watched our show? I think we were heading that way. I mean, they don’t ship us for nothing.”

Link chuckled. It was true there was a contingent of their fans who wholeheartedly believed, or at least hoped, that they were hopelessly in love with each other. Maybe the fans were smarter than they were all along.

“Seriously, though, Link. I think this experience just … sped things up. Showed us what we were too stupid to see.”

“I just want to be sure, you know? After everything that happened today, seeing how our kids reacted … I just want to make sure this isn’t just …”

“Just what?”

He didn’t know how to say it without hurting Rhett, so he just said it. “I want to be sure this isn’t just about sex. I can’t ruin my kids lives, and your kids lives, for a couple of cheap thrills.”

He expected Rhett to be angry. He expected Rhett to yell. But he didn’t. He leaned over and kissed Link on one cheek and then the other. “You, Charles Lincoln Neal, are no cheap thrill. You are the love of my life.”

It warmed Link from the toes up to hear him say that. “And you are mine.” He kissed Rhett, tugging lightly on his bottom lip. When he felt his body react, he pulled away. As much as his body wanted it, his brain was still everywhere else.

“I just feel so guilty, leaving them all like that and going away tomorrow with you. It seems so selfish.”

“Maybe it is,” Rhett said. “We don’t have to go. Not if you don’t want to.”

“Do you think they’ll be okay? I mean, Lily and Lando and Shepherd seem alright. But Locke and Lincoln?” Link felt tears forming. The two boys were both hurting bad.

“Locke will be fine,” Rhett said. “He’s angry because he’s hurt. Me being home right now wouldn’t help that. He just needs time.”

“What about Lincoln?”

“You told Lincoln exactly what he needed to hear. He’ll be okay, too.”

Link’s hands started to shake, and he twisted his wedding ring. He was only barely aware that they were both still wearing them. “It’s weird.”

“What’s weird?”

“If this hadn’t happened, you and me, do you think he would have told me?”

Rhett pondered it for a moment. “Maybe. Maybe not.”

“Maybe it was fate.”

“Now there’s an odd thing, you talking about fate.” Rhett gave him a playful look.

“I just mean, what if we happened so that he would be able to see that it’s okay? What if the only way for him to not grow up feeling broken and wrong was for him to see us together?”

Rhett stroked his beard. “Maybe. But I don’t think so. You and Christy would never have made him feel like that.”

“I’d like to think that.” But he wasn’t so sure.

They relaxed back into their pillows, their hands just touching on the bed. Link was so very tired. His heart ached with exhaustion. 

But Rhett wasn’t done.

“I’ve been thinking about that. Fate and destiny.” His voice took on that excited quality it had when Rhett’s wheels started turning.

“Yeah?” Link turned on his side and looked over at Rhett.

“Tell me this, Link. Did you ever feel whole with Christy?”

Link frowned. “I don’t want to talk about her like that, Rhett. I still love her.”

“I know you do, man. And I love Jessie. I do. But really think about it. Did you ever feel complete with her? Like you had found your other half?”

It wasn’t a fair question. Of course he hadn’t. He’d never believed in things like destiny and fate before. Rhett knew that. So he just shook his head.

“What about with me?”

Rhett took Link’s hand and placed it over his heart. Link looked up into Rhett’s gray-green eyes and felt instantly at home. Even in a musty motel room with scratchy sheets, he was home, because he was there with Rhett.

He couldn’t say the words, so he just nodded.

Rhett pulled him closer, holding him as Link curled around his body and rested his head on his chest.

“I’ve been thinking a lot about destiny,” Rhett said, kissing Link’s hair. “And the multiverse. How we were both able to cross over into another universe. And why we were able to.”

Link’s hand drifted down and found bare skin between Rhett’s jeans and t-shirt. He wanted to feel the warmth there and drown in it.

Rhett continued. “The first time I crossed over, it was weird at first, but only for a second. The first time I kissed you, I mean, the other you, it was the most right thing I’d ever felt. And all I wanted to do was keep getting back there so I could feel that again. It wasn’t about the sex. I mean, the sex was … “ Rhett groaned, his head leaning back as he closed his eyes. “God, Link, I can’t wait to do those things with you. The real you. But it wasn’t just that. We didn’t even do anything the last time I was there. I felt whole for the first time ever. It was like, I didn’t have to hold anything back. My best friend and my lover were the same person, and I could give you everything. Every piece of me.”

Link understood. They were closer than most friends, certainly most male friends. But there was something they both held back. Some small piece of their hearts they refused to give each other.

“I know what you mean,” Link said, wrapping his arm further around Rhett, holding him tighter.

“So what if this, you and me, was always the way it was supposed to be? What if in every other universe, you and I are together? Maybe somewhere, years ago, we missed the opportunity that would have put us together. Or something happened that kept us apart.”

“What are you getting at?”

Rhett tipped Link’s chin up so he could look at him. “What if the reason I was able to cross over was that destiny was trying to course-correct? We weren’t getting it on our own, so maybe fate stepped in to show us what we were always supposed to be.”

“Wouldn’t that mean that our wives and kids were a mistake?”

Rhett shook his head. “There’s no mistakes. No regrets. Just knowledge.”

“What knowledge is that?”

Rhett cupped Link’s face, and Link nuzzled into Rhett’s big hand. “That we were meant to be, in every universe.”

  
Their lips met again, and even though neither of one them had used the word, Link knew in that moment that if soulmates were real, Rhett was his.


	15. Chapter 15

As soon as they finished filming on Friday, Rhett and Link escaped the office and got on the road. Rhett still wouldn’t tell Link where they were going. 

“And the kids are still okay?” Rhett asked. He knew Link was worried. 

“Christy says they are. Yours?”

“Locke’s still upset, but he’s not mad anymore. Jessie said he’s been pretty quiet, but she thinks he’s all right.”

Link sighed. It was a relief. He knew there would be more work to do for things to really be okay. They would all have to adjust to new routines and new dynamics. He didn’t know if they friendships his kids had with Rhett’s would survive, or if Jessie and Christy would hold onto their relationship. Life would be tumultuous for a long time. But as long as they were all committed to being a family, somehow, it would eventually be okay. They would just have to find their new normal, whatever that was.

“You still okay with this?” Rhett asked. 

Link took Rhett’s hand and squeezed it. “Yeah. I am.”

As Rhett drove, they chatted about ideas they had for upcoming episodes, including their 1000th episode, which was fast approaching. They knew they wanted to do a song, but they hadn’t settled on anything yet. They had both recorded some preliminary tunes and lyrics, but nothing had stuck yet. Hopefully it would come to them soon.

He hoped so, because they would need to film it in the next week or two to stay on schedule.

After they’d been on the highway for about hour, Rhett tossed something into Link’s lap.

“Take off your glasses and put that on.”

He looked down. It was his blindfold from the show. “Really?”

“Yes, really! I don’t want you to see it coming.”

Link sighed with feigned exasperation. In truth, it was exciting that Rhett wanted to really surprise him. 

He placed in glasses carefully in their case and tucked them into the glove compartment. As he’d done so many times on the show, he put on the blindfold.

“As you can see, I can’t!” he declared. 

Rhett chuckled. “That’s the idea.”

Now blind, Link found himself lost in his own thoughts. 

“Hey, Rhett?”

“Yeah?”

“When do we tell them?”

“Who?”

“The Beasts.”

“Oh.”

They were quiet for a long time after that. Link knew Rhett was deep in thought. There was no easy answer, and they both knew it. Yes, of course, there were the Rhink shippers. And they would be in heaven. But the rest? He didn’t know. Some of them might be okay with it. Some might not even care. But there was a chance that announcing their new relationship status would turn off a large portion of their viewers. They’d be judged for divorcing their wives and abandoning their children. They might be judged for being gay, or whatever they were calling themselves. 

There was a chance it could ruin everything they had built together. 

“I guess,” Rhett finally said, “that we don’t have to say anything right away.”

“We can’t lie.”

Link could almost hear Rhett shaking his head. “No, we won’t lie. But we don’t tell them everything about our personal lives. We’re not vloggers. Never have been.”

“True. But we talk about our wives and kids enough. People will notice if that dialogue starts to change. I mean, hell, if we stopped wearing our wedding rings, they would be talking from the minute we upload.” 

“Well, maybe we just start an episode by kissing,” Rhett said.

“Let’s talk about  _ that _ .” 

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Link started laughing. It was a huge belly laugh, and once he started he couldn’t stop. He was crying from laughing so hard.

“Why is that so funny?”

“I don’t know!” Link said, trying to catch his breath. “God, can you imagine? Just making out on camera like that. I don’t know if I could do it without giggling like an idiot.”

“It’d make a hell of a 1,000th episode.”

Link couldn’t contain himself. The giggles took him over. It’d been so long since he’d laughed, really laughed. And somehow it released all of the tension he’d been holding on to. After all this, they could still laugh together, and if they could still laugh, they could do anything.

When he finally calmed down, he asked again. “Seriously though. What do you think?”

“Not yet,” Rhett said. “Not because I don’t think the fans can handle it, but because our families deserve to go through this in private. We don’t need anybody poking into our lives, into their lives, while they’re still dealing with it all.”

It was a fair point. They owed their families that much. “Then we just keep going on as normal. We keep our rings on. We minimize talk about our wives and families. When the time is right, we’ll figure out how to say it. And before we do anything, we make sure it’s okay with Christy and Jessie.”

Link felt Rhett’s hand pat his thigh. “Right. We don’t say anything until they’re ready.”

It wasn’t much of a plan, but it was a plan. 

“Do you think we’re going to lose subscribers?”

Rhett inhaled deeply, and Link could tell he was thinking hard about how to say what he was about to say. “Yeah, probably. Some. But honestly, Link? Screw them.”

“Are you serious?”

“Yes, I’m serious! Don’t get me wrong, I know we’re nothing without them. We only succeed because there are people willing to consume the product we create. But the truth is, I don’t care what they think of us. The ones who respect what we do as creators and appreciate us as people will stay. And those are the loyal Beasts that we make this show for.”

Rhett had nearly been yelling. He took a breath, and his voice became soft again. “The truth, Link, is that I love you more than I love being successful. If we lose some fans, so be it. If we have to make the budget stretch, we will.”

He took Link’s hand and brought it to his mouth, kissing it lightly. “You, we, us … it’s more important than how many subscribers we have.”

If they weren’t in a car, Link would have jumped in Rhett’s lap and kissed him for days. He settled for bursting into tears and mumbling “I love you, I love you,” over and over again.


	16. Chapter 16

“Wake up, Link. We’re here.”

Link opened his eyes, but the world was black. He almost panicked, but remembered the blindfold. He reached up to remove it.

“Wait,” Rhett said, and Link felt Rhett’s hand still his own. “Not yet.”

He heard Rhett get out of the car, and in another moment, heard the passenger door open. Rhett took his hands and pulled him out of the car. 

“First, there’s something we need to do.”

He felt Rhett’s fingers on his left hand. They slowly made their way to his ring finger and delicately removed the gold band that lived there. Rhett then guided Link’s hands to his own ring finger, and Link did the same, twisting the band slightly in order to take it off without pulling on Rhett’s skin.

He dropped the ring into Rhett’s open palm and heard it clink against his own. 

Neither man said a word during the strange ceremony, but Link knew they both felt the weight of it. It was both the lifting of a burden and the taking on of a new one. 

Link didn’t breathe until he felt Rhett move behind him. He heard the glove compartment open and shut, and the car door slam.

Rhett took him by the shoulders and turned his body. “Keep your eyes shut.”

Link did as he was told, and felt Rhett remove the blindfold and gently replace his glasses on his face. 

He felt the breeze on his face as Rhett moved from in front of him, standing shoulder to shoulder with him and taking his hand. 

“Look.”

Link opened his eyes.

He stood in the middle of a forest. The air was clean and he could hear the rush of nearby water. Before him stood a small log cabin, sheltered in the shade of the tall California trees. He looked to the left, toward the sound of the water, and saw a wide stream, rushing over broad rocks between its banks.

Out of the Los Angeles streets, far from the deserts and the sandy beaches the defined the west coast, this patch of green woods by the water felt like home, back when it was just Rhett and Link, when they were innocent and free.

Rhett squeezed his hand. “It’s no Cape Fear River, but it was as close as I could get.”

Link closed his eyes as he breathed in the fresh air. “It’s perfect.”

They quickly unpacked what little they had brought with them: two duffel bags and a small cooler of whatever food Rhett had packed. He took everything inside while Link waited. He wanted to watch the water and smell the air and feel the wind in his hair.

While Rhett was inside, seemingly taking forever, he got an idea. When Rhett finally emerged, Link was stripped to nothing but his underwear and was waist deep in the middle of the stream. It was cold, but he didn’t care.

“Come on, man, get in here!”

Rhett looked down and saw Link’s clothes perfectly folded on the cabin porch, his glasses carefully perched atop the pile. He wasted no time. He left his clothes and shoes in a heap on the porch and covered the distance quickly with his long legs. He lept into the stream, splashing Link with a wall of water.

Link laughed and splashed back. Rhett pushed him, and Link fell backwards into the water. He stood up, sputtering and brushing his now wet hair out of his face. Rhett was holding his belly, red-faced with laughter.

Link slowly made his way back to Rhett and moved as if to kiss him. But at the last minute, he shoved Rhett backwards, and he. too, fell into the stream. With his height, Rhett didn’t quite go under, and could comfortably sit up. He reached up and pulled Link down on his lap and tickled him mercilessly. Link did his best to escape, but Rhett’s arms were too strong. Rhett kept it up until Link cried “uncle!” and fought to catch his breath

They were boys in the North Carolina wilds again. 

Until Link remembered they were nearly naked. Until Rhett touched the small of his back and ran his fingers up Link’s spine. Until Rhett’s lips were on his, begging for everything they had come there to find.

“Let’s go in,” Link said, finally escaping Rhett’s hungry mouth.

It took ages to get back to the cabin, because for every step they took, there was another kiss, and for every three steps, Link stumbled, too busy seeking Rhett’s lips to look where he was going. 

When they finally tumbled inside, dripping wet, they collapsed on the rug in front of a roaring fire, Still kissing, Link crawled on top of Rhett, pinning him to the floor.

“You don’t know how long I’ve waited for this,” Rhett said, letting Link take control. 

“Probably as long as I’ve waited to do this.”

“And what would that be?”

Link raised an eyebrow and then let his body fall limp on top of Rhett. “I’m dead.”

“I hate you.”

“You love me. But I’m still dead.”

Rhett laughed, but was easily able to push Link off and onto his back. He straddled him, pressing their lower bodies together, and Link groaned. Rhett was hard with need, and Link was there with him in an instant.

“Rhett … please.”

“Tell me what you want.” Rhett rocked his hips, increasing the pressure between them.

“Anything. Everything. Whatever you want to do to me.”

“Baby, I’m going to do things to you you’ve never dreamed of.”

Rhett leaned down and cupped the back of Link’s head. He kissed Link’s forehead and then one cheek, and finally lightly brushed his lips against Link’s. Link’s tongue flicked out, searching for more, but Rhett didn’t allow it. He dragged his lips slowly down Link’s chin and neck, stopping every so briefly so run his tongue around Link’s protruding Adam’s apple.

Link gasped and arched his hips up, searching, begging with his body.

But Rhett merely continued his exploration down Link’s breastbone, letting his tongue dance across one nipple and then the other, sending shivers up and down Link’s spine. Down the right side of Link’s body, Rhett left a breadcrumb trail of kisses until he reached Link’s hipbone. He hooked a finger and a thumb around the waistband of Link’s underwear and looked up.

Link saw the question in Rhett’s eyes. He nodded, giving him permission. Devastatingly slowly, Rhett pulled them down, exposing all of Link. 

Some instinct, left over from years of avoiding that kind of exposure near another man, caused Link to tense, and he felt his hands move to cover himself. Rhett gently removed Link’s hands, placing them on the floor.

“You don’t have to hide, Link. It’s me. You have nothing to be afraid of. It’s me.”

Link did his best to relax. He wanted it, and he wanted Rhett. It shouldn’t have been weird, not after going to that other place. But that had been a heat-of-the-moment emotional reaction; he hadn’t had time to think about it. He had merely reacted, giving in to impulse and need.

“I know,” he said. “It’s you, and I want this. But … it’s  _ you.” _

Rhett seemed to understand. He reached out an arm and took a pillow from the nearby couch. He carefully placed it under Link’s head and kissed him lightly on the corner of the mouth before whispering to him softly. “Forget about everything, Link. You and I are the only ones in the world tonight. Trust me, and trust yourself.”

Link let his head relax back onto the pillow. He closed his eyes and felt Rhett’s breath as he snaked back down Link’s body. The weight disappeared from his torso, and he looked down to see Rhett gazing back up at him from between his legs. 

Link nodded.

He let out a moan when he felt Rhett’s tongue slowly work it’s way from base to tip. Rhett repeated the motion again and again, increasing his speed and pressure in infinitesimal degrees each time. Link was in ecstasy, torn between wanting Rhett to continue and needing him to go further. 

“More. Please,” he gasped, unable to form sentences. 

Rhett’s hands tightened on Link’s hips, and he dove in, taking all of Link into his mouth at once and slowly, slowly pulling away again. 

“Like that?” he asked in a throaty whisper.

“Oh god, yes.” Link tried to move toward Rhett, but Rhett held him in place. He let his tongue swirl in slow circles, teasing and taunting Link.

“I can taste you,” Rhett said, never letting his mouth leave Link’s skin. “Link, I want …”

Link was writhing with need. “Anything you want, Rhett. Anything.” 

Rhett wrapped a hand around Link. “I want you to come in my mouth.”

Link answered only in a deep groan. Rhett took him in deep, using both his mouth and his hand to bring Link to the brink. Link drove his hips upward, wanting desperately to be completely engulfed in Rhett’s warmth.

“Take it, Link. It’s yours.” Rhett’s words vibrated throughout Link’s length, forcing him over the edge. He bucked wildly. His fingernails dug into the rug as he turned his head to hold in his screams. Rhett drank him in, accepting all he had to give.

He was still shaking when Rhett withdrew, licking off stray droplets. Rhett curled to the side of Link’s body, resting his head on his stomach. Link reached down and curled his fingers in Rhett’s hair as he fought for breath. He could have died right then and there, and whether he went to heaven or hell, he didn’t care. This moment was all the heaven he could have asked for.

When his breathing finally slowed, Link coaxed Rhett toward him. 

“I want to kiss you,” he said, pulling Rhett in.

Rhett’s eyes were big. “Are you sure? I just …”

Link didn’t allow him to finish. He pulled him into an open-mouthed kiss, his tongue furiously wrestling with Rhett’s. When he said he’d wanted everything, he’d meant it.

“How’s your back?” he whispered into Rhett’s mouth.

“Floor’s pretty hard.”

“Why don’t you stand then?” Link’s voice was breathy and low.

In a tangle of limbs and lips, they stood together, until Link was on tiptoe, still drinking in Rhett’s kisses. He let his hands drop to Rhett’s waist and quickly relieved Rhett of his undergarment.

He took a step back, and then another, taking in all of Rhett there was to see. He was a golden god, a true giant, and Link went to his knees before him. 

Rhett had been slow and deliberate, drawing out Link’s pleasure little by little. But for Link, this was wholly new, and every hair on his body was on end. He stood at the edge of the ocean, the water too cold to ease in little by little. If he approached too slowly, he might get scared and back out. So he closed his eyes and dove in headfirst. 

Rhett doubled over in rapture as Link swallowed every inch of him. The expected gag never came, even as Rhett held Link’s head and pumped his hips furiously. Link was ruthless, consuming Rhett at a furious pace, but Rhett’s elation as he screamed out his pleasure was no less than Link’s had been. 

Link looked up with his wide blue as he finished, using his tongue to make sure not a drop fell to the floor. There, he met Rhett’s eyes. 

Rhett moaned and dropped to his knees, caressing Link’s cheeks as he expressed his gratitude in long, deep kisses. Exhausted, they fell again to the floor, Rhett on his back, Link entwined in his limbs. There was no telling where Rhett ended and Link began; they were one body, one soul, as it always was meant to be.

Link drifted off, soothed to sleep by the rhythm of Rhett’s heartbeat.

It was dark when he woke. The fire had burned down to embers. 

“Morning, beautiful,” Rhett said in a low voice, his beard tickling Link’s forehead.

“Is it morning?"

“Nah. It’s only been about half an hour.”

“Did you sleep?”

Rhett ran a hand down Link’s back and shook his head. “I just watched you sleep.”

Link felt his cheeks redden, but he ignored his vague feeling of embarrassment. “What time is it? Should we eat dinner or something?"

“Are you hungry?”

Link licked his lips. “Not for food.”

Rhett raised his eyebrow. “Up for another round, are you?”

“Maybe. Where’s the bed?” Link asked, getting slowly to his feet.

Rhett stood and pointed to a door. 

“Are the bags in there?” Link asked. 

Rhett nodded.

Link took Rhett by the hand and led him into the room.  The wooden-framed bed was king-sized, far larger than the double bed they’d been cramming themselves into at the hotel. It was covered in a woolly brown blanket. The only light came from a single sconce on the far wall, bathing the room in a natural, soft ambience. 

“Where’d you find this place?” Link asked.

“Doesn’t matter. It’s ours for the weekend.”

Link squeezed Rhett’s hand. “Lay down for me.”

Rhett bent down and kissed Link’s hair before flopping gracelessly onto the bed, one leg drooping off the side, his hands behind his head. Link was sorely tempted to skip what he had planned, but he resisted the urge. 

He knelt down and rummaged in his bag until he pulled out the bottle of massage oil. He turned and showed it to Rhett.

“Your back is a mess after sleeping on that awful bed,” he said. “Roll over. Let me make it better.”

Rhett took Link’s chin in his hand, and pulled him in for a luxurious kiss, running his tongue over Link’s lips, tasting the fruits of their love, before he obeyed and rolled over.

Link had rubbed the sore knots from Rhett’s shoulders and back a hundred times before. He knew that an unfamiliar mattress or too much stress could have the large man in terrible pain. And these past weeks had been nothing but stress, not to mention the horrible hotel bed. In the past, helping Rhett had just been routine, helping out a buddy. Now, it was an act of devotion.

He straddled Rhett, ignoring the growing desire as he brushed against Rhett’s backside. That could wait. He squeezed the oil into his hands and rubbed them together to warm it. The oil smelled of sandalwood and sage; he’d chosen that one because it reminded him of Rhett.

He started at Rhett’s shoulders, using his slender fingers to release the stress residing in each muscle fiber. He was delicate where he could be, and pressed hard when he had to, not satisfied until he heard Rhett’s deep sigh as each knot gave up its hold on his body.

Moving down Rhett’s back, Link took pains to move carefully around the areas on Rhett’s spine that were prone to injury. He rubbed circles across Rhett’s expansive back, trying not to leave any area untouched. Rhett’s groans slowly turned to moans and light exhales. 

“I should have had you doing this a long time ago,” he mumbled into the pillow.

“It would’ve saved you a ton of money on professional massages,” Link said, kneading his knuckles into the small of Rhett’s back.

“Mmm, don’t care about the money. Just want you,” Rhett sighed.

Link blushed, pleased with himself, and continued his massage.

“Can you go down just a little more?” Rhett asked.

Link used his thumbs, moving further down.

“Little more?”

Link’s eyes narrowed, but he continued.

“Just a little more?” Rhett asked, stretching out the words, his pitch lifting.

Link heard the change in Rhett’s tone, and he laughed. 

“You want a booty massage?” 

“Mmm, if you’re willing. I got a bad knot there.”

Instead, Link swatted Rhett’s backside with one hand. “You’re incorrigible.”

“I know,” Rhett said, turning his head and smiling up at Link.

Link laid down next to Rhett. “I did bring …” But he cut himself off, almost embarrassed to admit it. He felt so unsure. All of this was so new, so strange. It was all magnificent so far, but he knew there was much yet to explore and experience. How far he was willing to go, he didn’t yet know. 

“What did you bring?”

Link’s face was hot. “I brought lube.”

Rhett turned so they laid face to face, taking Link’s hand. “Is that something you want to do?”

“I don’t know,” he confessed. “I’ve never …”

“Neither have I.”

Link knew Rhett had crossed over more than he had. “Not even with me? I mean the other me?”

Rhett shook his head. “I did a lot of things there, but not that. It just … didn’t come up, I guess.”

“What about with …” But he couldn’t speak her name. Not here. 

“No. You?”

“No.”

Rhett brought Link’s hand to his mouth and kissed it. “We don’t have to, Link. Not if you’re not comfortable. Maybe someday, if that’s what you want, but …”

“I want to try.” Link surprised himself. He couldn’t explain it in words. But he wanted to give himself completely to Rhett, in all the ways he could. In every way.

Rhett kissed his hand again, pressing his lips to Link’s palm and lingering there. “Get it, then.”

Link sprang from the bed and took the small bottle from his bag. 

Rhett was propped up on one arm when he returned. “Where do you want me?” he asked.

But Link shook his head. “No. Where do you want me?”

Rhett’s eyes grew wide. “Link, I don’t … I don’t want to hurt you.”

“Don’t brag, brother,” Link said, grinning. 

Rhett pulled Link back into the bed, cradling him in his long arms. “I’m serious.”

“So am I.” He pressed the bottle into Rhett’s hand.

Rhett kissed Link, pushing him back into the pillows. “Talk to me. Let me know if I need to stop.”

“I will.”

“I want you to enjoy this, too,” Rhett said. He took Link in his hand and he immediately came to life again. Rhett bowed his head, inching down, using his tongue. Link groaned, and Rhett continued down, down, dragging his tongue further and further south, not stopping until he reached that uncharted territory.

Link flinched as Rhett’s tongue explored his depths. 

“Is this okay?” 

Rhett’s breath was tickled hm.

“Mmm hmm,” was all he could say.

He heard the bottle’s cap click open. Rhett made his way back to Link’s mouth, kissing away his fears. A cool sensation hit him as Rhett brought his fingers to Link, ever so gently pressing, searching.

Link gasped. Rhett retreated. 

“Don’t stop,” came his plea.

Rhett continued, slowly, keeping his lips to Link’s in a deep, unending kiss. One finger, and then two. Link moved his hips, telling Rhett to continue. 

He did.

“Are you ready?” came the whisper in Link’s ear.

Link whimpered and nodded. He wasn’t, but he was. He was terrified, but enthralled. He wanted it, but more he wanted to give it to Rhett.

Rhett arched his body above Link’s, their eyes locked on each other. Rhett moved, bringing himself to the threshold. Link nodded again. Rhett closed his eyes. He was slow and gentle, entering as if trying to sneak unseen into a forbidden land. 

But Link’s eyes opened wide and he panted, his breaths coming fast and shallow. He pulled Rhett to him, desperate to be closer, desperate for Rhett’s lips on his skin. 

It was new, and it hurt, but Link was full and full of joy. Rhett reached between them, his hands still slick, and brought Link with him as he thrust forward and cried out. Link burst into a million points of starlight.

Delirious, they slept.

 

\---------------------------------------------

 

Link woke before sunrise to the smell of bacon frying. He found his clothes from the day before on the nightstand next to him. He put on his jeans and his glasses and found Rhett similarly clad in the main room, cooking breakfast over the stove.

Link waited a minute to take in the view.

“Hey,” he finally said, leaning against the doorframe.

“Morning,” Rhett said. “For real, this time.”

“It’s a good morning,” Link replied. 

Rhett spooned eggs and bacon onto a plate and held it out. “I thought we could eat outside. Watch the sun come up.”

Link took the plate, and Rhett made another. They headed outside and settled themselves onto the back of the stream just as the sun started to rise up over the mountains. They both ate quickly, starving after not eating dinner the night before, and tossed the plates aside. Rhett leaned back against a tree and Link settled into him, resting his back against Rhett’s chest.

Golden shafts of light came down through the trees. The water sparkled like diamonds. 

Link leaned his head to the side, and out of the corner of his eye, across the stream, something came into view.

“Rhett … look.”

He pointed. 

Barely visible, on the opposite bank, shimmering in and out of focus, they saw themselves. The other Rhett and Link, standing on the bank, Rhett behind Link, his arms holding him close. 

They turned. 

“Rhett, can they see us?”

Link stood and stared. His doppelganger stared back. Rhett was soon at his side. 

The other Rhett waved, giving Link an approving smile and then a thumbs up. Link returned the wave. 

Rhett was near to tears. “Thank you,” he said, as loud as he could managed without letting himself cry. “Thank you for us.”

The other Link just nodded and smiled.

As the sun continued its climb and the light shifted, the vision faded, and soon they could see nothing but the trees.

Rhett pulled Link closer, holding on as tight as he could. 

“Do you think we’ll ever see them again?” Link asked, leaning his head back against Rhett’s chest.

Rhett shook his head, almost regretfully, but not quite. “No. I think they’ve served their purpose.”

Link turned in Rhett’s arms to face him. “I love you, Rhett McLaughlin.”  
  
Rhett pressed his lips to Link’s forehead. “And I love you, Link Neal.”


	17. Epilogue

Epilogue

 

The Mythical Crew was completely unfazed by the news. Maybe because they were young and hadn’t grown up in small-town America in the 1980s, or maybe because they’d seen it all along. Either way, they merely offered their congratulations and continued their work as normal. Very little changed on set.

Rhett found them a temporary apartment not far from the studio. Link found that moving out was harder than he expected. He’d built a life with his family in that house. And while he wanted that new life with Rhett, nothing about leaving his old life behind was easy.

They told the viewers after the New Year, later than they had hoped. Surprisingly, it was Christy who delayed it. Jessie gave her blessing quickly, wanting it over with. But Christy felt the shame of having failed as a wife. She only gave in when the divorce papers were final and she knew there was no going back.

Though Link did find the idea of telling the fans in an episode appealing, he and Rhett agreed that they didn’t want their show to change. They didn’t want to became some figurehead of gay entertainment. They hadn’t earned that. They were still finding their feet. So they recorded a short video from their office, holding hands as they announced their news, and posted it on their social media accounts.

The backlash was exactly what they had expected. The loyal viewers were supportive and remained. The casual viewers didn’t see the announcement, and therefore didn’t notice or care. But there were some who denounced them, telling them they were going to hell for their sins, or expressing their disgust at the very idea of two men sleeping together.

They lost subscribers. They received death threats. For weeks, Rhett feared they wouldn’t be able to keep going.

But soon, something changed. A new contingent of Mythical Beasts arose. These new Beasts came from all walks of life, but shared the common experience of having hidden something away from the world, be it their sexual orientation, their religion, or their true selves. These Beasts found in Rhett and Link a safe haven to be themselves without fear of judgement.

The Kommunity they had built gained new life and took on new purpose, the fans finding every way they could to change the world for the better.

Link believed it might have been their greatest accomplishment to inspire the young people of the world to love each other with abandon.  

They bought a house with space for all of their children. There was a room for Lily, one for Lincoln and Locke, and one for Lando and Shepherd. Their dogs, Barbara and Jade, slept at the foot of Rhett and Link’s enormous bed.The times when all five children filled the house with their laughter were the best times of all. Their children were resilient after all, and their new blended family became their foundation.

But not everything was easy. Christy could no longer face Jessie, even though Jessie longed for her friendship. She told Link it was simply too hard. She wanted to move back home, back to North Carolina, but couldn’t leave her children behind, and couldn’t take them with her. She threw herself into her work with the church to escape her pain.

Link’s prayers were often for Christy, and the guilt of it all never truly left him.

Rhett told him that Jessie took it just as hard, but was better at hiding it.

A year and a half after their announcement, Rhett and Link got married on the bank of the stream by the cabin, which Link bought for Rhett as a gift. It hadn’t been easy to convince the owner to sell, but Link was persuasive when he wanted to be. It became their weekend home, and the place they escaped to when the world weighed too heavily on them.

They both wore khaki pants and white button down shirts. Rhett wore his open at the chest, and Link buttoned his to the top. They let their bare feet sink into the earth as they exchanged new rings: Link was  brushed white gold, and Rhett’s was oak and tungsten. The wedding party consisted entirely of their children, and their dogs pulled in a wagon. Only their very closest friends and family attended.

Despite their desire to keep their private life private, as a gift, and a thank-you for their loyalty, the Beasts were treated to a live-stream of the ceremony.

And somewhere out there, on that very same day, in another universe, another Rhett and another Link paced anxiously in a hospital waiting room. At last, a nurse beckoned to them, and they practically ran after her into the nursery.

“It’s a boy,” the nurse said, presenting an impossibly tiny baby, wrapped in soft blankets, to Rhett.

“And a girl,” she said, handing Link a second, even smaller, baby.  
  
With their children between them, they could just barely reach to kiss each other through tears of joy.

 

THE END

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to everyone who left kudos and comments. You all encouraged me to keep going, even when it was difficult. I truly hope you love reading it just as much as I loved writing it, and I hope I gave you the ending you hoped for. I appreciate every one of you.
> 
> Thanks for going on this ride with me!


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